UC-NRLF 


ND THANK 


B    3    3EI    EflM       -      H 


[SH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 


«  A  3    •." 


or 


THINK  AND  THANK 


A.  TALE 


SAMUEL  W.  COOPER, 


THE   JEWISH    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY   OF   AMERICA. 

1890. 


COPYRIGHT,  1S90. 
BY  THK  JEWISH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  ov  AMERICA. 


PRESS  OF 

EDWARD  STERN  &  Co., 

PHILADELPHIA. 


7 

/"7S7; 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

A  Brother  in  Need,   ,  1 


CHAPTER   II. 
Troubles  at  School, 6 

CHAPTER    III. 
A  Talk  with  Uncle  Moses, 11 

CHAPTER  IV. 
George  Owen's  Revenge, ...      17 

CHAPTER  V. 
A  Bully's  Downfall, 27 

CHAPTER   VI. 
A  Mystery  Cleared  Up, 38 

CHAPTER   VII. 
A  Story  of  a  Lion  Hunt, 47 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
The  Snow-fight  at  Kings  Common, 61 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

PAGE 

A  Swimming  Match, 7f> 

CHAPTER   X. 
An  Evening  at  Home, 83 

CHAPTER   XL 
Mosen  a  Captain, 06 

CHAPTER   XII. 
The  Choice  of  a  Life, 105 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  End  of  a  Day, 117 


THINK  AND  THANK. 


CHAPTER  I. 
A  BROTHER  IN  NEED. 

"Give  it  to  the  Jew!" 

A  fair-haired  lad  stood  confronted  by  a  score 
or  more  excited  boys,  who  jeered  and  tormented 
him  with  that  persistent  brutality  which  comes 
of  persecution.  He  was  not  "  one  of  them,"  else 
surely  he  would  have  found  some  defender  against 
their  unfair  attacks. 

His  only  advantage  lay  in  the  fact  that  his 
back  was  to  the  wull ;  but  with  so  many  enemies, 
this  proved  only  a  small  protection.  Some  of 
them  made  passes  with  their  fists,  as  if  to  strike 
him  in  the  face  and  body ;  others  pinched  him  or 
threw  dirt  and  balls  of  paper  at  him,  and  all,  in 
turn,  taunted  him,  and  the  end  of  their  cries  was 
the  same: 

"  Give  it  to  the  Jew ! " 

The  afternoon  sun  shone  full  upon  the  boy  as 

1 


2  THINK    AND   THANK. 

he  stood  there  bravely;  there  was  nothing  to 
show  his  fears,  save  a  nervous  twitching  of  the 
lips  and  eyes.  Poor  little  chap !  He  was  not  more 
than  ten  years  old,  and  his  weakness  should  have 
proved  a  sure  defence.  But  his  name  had  been 
enough,  and  the  other  scholars  had  soon  begun 
towards  him,  in  their  way,  the  same  kind  of  perse- 
cution that  their  fathers  had  practised  toward  his 
people  for  so  many  centuries. 

"How  is  young  Father  Abraham,  to-day?" 
cried  a  burly,  shock-haired  fellow,  who  seemed  to 
be  the  leader  of  the  boys.  "  Where  are  Moses  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob  and  the  others  of  your  great 
tribo?"  "Where  are  your  asses  upon  a  thousand 
hills?"  "  Where  is  your  big  brother?" 

"If  he  was  here,  George  Owen,  you  would 
none  of  you  dare  treat  me  so,"  the  little  fellow 
answered,  his  voice  trembling  with  emotion. 
"Because  I'm  a  Jew,  it's  no  reason  for  you  all  to 
get  at  me  at  once." 

"  Come  on,  Mr.  Isaacs,"  Owen  scoffed  and 
squared  off  at  him  as  for  a  battle,  and  then  sud- 
denly slapped  him  in  the  face  with  his  hand. 

Abraham  swung  the  books,  at  the  end  of  his 
strap,  over  his  head,  and  the  boys  who  were  near, 
including  Owen,  sprang  back  in  fear ;  but  not  for 


A    BROTHER    IN    NEED.  6 

long,  and  they  once  more  gathered  about,  like 
flies,  annoying  him  in  all  the  small  ways  they 
could  think  of. 

Again  and  again  he  beat  them  off,  only  to 
have  them  return  with  laughter  and  mockery. 
He  was  sore  at  heart  and  bitter  tears  came  to  his 
eyes,  but  he  would  not  beg  them  to  have  pity  on 
him ;  the  spirit  of  his  race  was  with  him,  and  he 
bravely  kept  up  the  battle.  At  last,  while  a 
number  attacked  him  on  one  side,  Owen,  on  the 
other,  seized  the  books  and  tore  them  away,  leav- 
ing Abraham  almost  defenceless. 

u  You're  cowards,"  the  boy  cried.  "  And  you 
don't  dare  fight  me  single-handed ;  I'll  fight  you 
all,  one  by  one." 

"  You  will,  will  you  ?"  Owen  said.  "  Stand 
back,  boys,  and  let  me  have  a  crack  at  the  beggar 
of  a  Jew.  I'll  show  him  something.'' 

As  they  drew  away,  he  aimed  a  blow  at  Abra- 
ham which,  had  it  taken  effect,  would,  beyond 
doubt,  have  knocked  him  down ;  but  the  boy 
was  too  quick  and  sprang  aside — his  adversary 
running  into  the  wall  with  the  force  of  his  as- 
sault. He  turned,  the  sun  was  in  his  eyes,  and 
Abraham  struck  him  full  upon  the  side  of  his 
head  with  his  fist — a  blow  that  staggered  him, 


4  THINK    AND    THANK. 

though  the  hand   that   gave   it   was  weak   and! 
unused  to  fighting. 

Some  one  in  the  crowd  was  fair  enough  to 
cry,  "  Well  done,  Jew !"  and  the  bully,  blind  with 
mortification  and  rage  that  a  boy  half  his  size 
should  have  met  him  so,  rushed  again,  wildly,  at 
his  opponent,  and  the  two  clinched.  They  strug- 
gled for  a  few  moments,  until  the  weight  of  Owen 
was  too  much,  for  Abraham,  and  he  fell  heavily 
beneath  his  foe,  who,  disregarding  all  the  laws  of 
school  warfare,  struck  him  with  his  fist  in  the 
face. 

How  long  the  others  would  have  allowed  such 
brutality,  was  not  to  be  known,  for,  before  many 
blows  had  fallen,  some  one  cried  :  "  Here  comes 
Moses,"  and  a  boy  ran  across  the  school-yard,  and 
flinging  aside  those  who  stood  in  his  way,  took 
the  bully  by  the  neck  and  dashed  him  violently 
to  the  earth. 

Abraham  was  uninjured,  save  for  a  bruise  or 
two.  Moses  helped  him  to  his  feet,  then  turned 
and  looked  calmly  at  the  crowd  that  now  stood 
silent  before  the  tall  muscular  figure  and  the 
bravery  of  the  boy. 

"  You  are  a  set  of  low,  miserable  curs,  to  treat 
a  little  fellow  so,"  he  said,  deliberately. 


A    BROTHER   IN    NEED.  O 

He  spoke  no  other  words  to  them,  but  there 
was  passion  in  the  voice ;  the  clear  eyes  flashed ; 
and  about  the  mouth  was  a  set  look  of  fearless 
strength  that  caused  them  to  fall  back,  quietly, 
as  he  passed  across  the  yard  with  his  brother. 

"  You  had  better  let  Moses  alone,  Owen,"  said 
Noel  Hilton,  the  boy  who  had  called  out  the 
cheering  words  to  Abraham  during  the  fight. 
*"  Look,  he  is  all  bone  and  muscle !"  pointing  to 
the  retreating  figure,  as  Owen  arose.  "  You  can 
lick  his  little  brother,  after  he  is  tired  out,  but 
Moses  is  nearly  as  large  as  you,  and  I  fancy  he  will 
be  boss  of  the  school,  now,  if  you  don't  take  care." 

Noel  Hilton  was  a  boy  of  great  wealth  and 
likely  to  come  into  a  title  in  later  life.  He  was  a 
fop  in  his  dress — constantly  appearing  with  some 
new  and  fanciful  article  of  attire,  yet  a  well-knit, 
manly  chap,  withal,  who,  while  he  seldom  quar- 
relled with  his  school-fellows,  managed,  in  some 
way,  to  maintain  his  independence,  never  hesitat- 
ing to  speak  his  mind  and  stick  up  to  it,  too,  on 
all  subjects  which  interested  him. 

Perhaps  custom  had  rendered  him  privileged, 
for  Owen  made  no  quarrel  with  him,  and  said, 
sullenly,  by  way  of  answer: 

"  We'll  see  about  that* 


t>  THINK    AND    THANK. 

CHAPTER    II. 

TROUBLES  AT  SCHOOL, 

Moses  Montefiore  and  his  brother  had  been  at 
this  school  less  than  two  months.  It  was  called 
St.  Denis,  and  situated  in  Kennington,  a  part  of 
the  City  of  London.  The  boys  knew  the  school 
as  "  Denis,"  without  any  prefix ;  most  of  them 
found  that  there  was  very  little  of  the  saint  about 
the  place.  Moses  and  his  brother  were  day-schol- 
ars; that  is,  they  lived  at  home,  and  attended 
only  during  study  hours.  Many  of  the  scholars 
lived  at  the  school,  while  others  boarded  at  the 
houses  near  by. 

Moses  Mocatta,  the  uncle  of  the  two  boys,  had 
prepared  them  at  home  for  school  life,  and  they 
also  had  attended  a  primary  class  before  coming 
to  St.  Denis.  Moses  was  among  the  first  boys 
in  the  fifth  form ;  Abraham,  some  few  years 
younger,  was  in  the  third.  In  their  studies  they 
did  well;  two  healthy,  manly  lads,  anxious  each 
to  do  his  part  at  school  and  be  good  friends  with 
the  other  boys. 

Yet  their  lives  were  made  troubled  and  un- 
happy by  distrust  and  dislike. 


TROUBLES   AT   SCHOOL.  7 

This  was  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  the  Jews, 
throughout  England,  as  elsewhere,  were  the 
subject  often  of  open  persecution ;  at  all  times 
they  were  held  up  to  the  scorn  and  derision  of 
those  who  called  themselves  Christians.  Under 
the  law  they  could  not  hold  land,  or  have 
any  place  in  the  Army,  or  in  the  Government ; 
and  there  were  special  fines  and  penalties  laid 
upon  them  if  they  engaged  in  certain  kinds  of 
business. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  English  boys  took  up  the 
cry  of  the  older  people,  and  had  delight  in  annoy- 
ing their  Jewish  school-mates. 

So  far,  by  quiet  manners  and  care,  they  had 
avoided  any  general  outbreak  with  the  others; 
but  had  been  compelled  to  endure  much. 

Moses  was  a  sturdy,  determined  lad,  able  to 
defend  himself,  but  his  fair-haired  brother,  whose 
sweet  face  and  almost  girlish  ways  made  him  an 
easy  subject  to  tease,  was  constantly  in  trouble 
and  needed  protection. 

Between  the  day  scholars  and  the  boarders  a 
rivalry  existed,  which,  as  time  went  on,  grew 
fiercer.  George  Owen  was  the  ringleader  among 
the  latter,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  annoy- 
ing his  enemies  ;  indeed,  even  the  smaller  boys  of 


THINK    AND    THANK. 

his  own  party  were  made  miserable  by  his  tor- 
tures. He  had  an  able  assistant  in  one  of  about  his 
own  age — Richard  Doughty — generally  known  as 
Dick  Dough. 

As  Moses  was  about  leaving  the  school-yard, 
a  day  or  two  after  their  studies  had  begun,  he 
heard  cries  of  pain  coming  from  a  group  of  small 
boys,  among  whom  he  saw  this  fellow. 

He  hurried  forward  to  find  out  what  was  the 
matter. 

"Dick  Dough  is  twistin'  Joe's  thumb,  'cause 
he  won't  be  his  fag,"  one  of  the  small  boys  told 
him. 

Moses  looked  over  the  heads  of  the  surround- 
ing crowd  and  saw  a  little  fellow  lying  on  the 
ground,  moaning  and  crying,  while  his  tormentor 
bent  over  him  and  twisted  a  cord  about  his 
thumb,  until  it  almost  cut  through  the  flesh. 

"  I  am  u  day-scholar,  and  I  don't  have  to  fag 
for  you,"  he  cried.  "  Get  one  of  the  boarders !" 

Moses  pushed  the  boys  in  front  of  him  aside, 
and  said : 

"  That's  the  rule  here.  Why  don't  you  let  him 
alone.  You  have  no  right  to  torture  him  so." 

A  face,  red  with  anger,  glared  up  at  him. 

"  I'll  give  you  a  taste  of  it  next,  you  Jew  brat," 


TROUBLES    AT    SCHOOL.  9 

and  Dick,  in  his  passion,  gave  the  cord  an  extra 
twist. 

"  You  boys  are  all  home  boarders,"  Moses  said; 
"  help  me." 

Dick,  thinking  a  united  attack  was  to  be  made 
on  him,  jumped  to  his  feet,  furious  with  rage,  and 
made  a  wild  rush  at  Moses ;  Joe,  in  the  meantime, 
escaping. 

Montefiore  dodged  the  angry  blows  aimed  at 
him,  but  it  would  have  gone  hard  with  him,  had 
not  one  of  the  monitors  come  up  at  the  moment. 

"What's  this  row  here,  Dick  Dough?"  he  said. 
"  You  are  always  fighting." 

"  It's  the  Jew,  who  interfered  when  I  was  play- 
ing leap-frog  with  the  other  boys." 

The  monitor  looked  critically  at  Moses. 

"  They  oughn't  to  let  such  people  come  here," 
he  said.  "But  we  can't  have  any  fighting.  If 
the  Jew  annoys  you  again  report  it  to  me." 

"  He  was  twisting  a  small  boy's  thumb  off  with 
a  cord  and  twister,"  Moses  said. 

"  None  of  your  taVe-telling  here,"  the  monitor 
scowled.  t 

Even  the  little  fellows,  who  had  been  looking 
011  with  interest,  did  not  seem  to  mind  the  injus- 
tice of  the  thing  and  paid  no  attention  to  Moses 


10  TPIINK    AND   THANK. 

as  he  left  the  yard.  He  was  a  Jew,  and  they  did 
not  'care  for  him. 

But,  the  next  day,  the  boy  felt  happy  when 
Noel  Hilton,  one  of  the  most  popular. among  the 
day-scholars,  said  to  him : 

"I  saw  that  rumpus,  yesterday,  out  of  one  of 
the  windows.  I  want  to  tell  you,  I'm  with  you. 
Dick's  a  brute.  You  can  count  on  me  to  back 
you  up  now.  The  boarders  have  no  right  to  use 
the  day  boys  for  fags,  and  this  plaguing  the  little 
fellows  is  mean  work,  anyhow." 

After  this,  in  his  indifferent  way,  Noel  was 
always  Moses'  friend,  and  took  his  part  whenever 
there  was  a  chance. 

About  this  time  Isaac  Goldsmid,  Moses'  chum, 
came  to  the  school.  He  was  a  quiet,  even- 
tempered  fellow,  but  very  determined ;  and, 
together,  the  boys  grew  to  be  feared.  They  were, 
seldom  apart,  and  Isaac  soon  took  his  place  with 
Moses  in  the  fifth  form.  This  companionship 
and  the  careless  friendship  of  Noel  Hilton  were 
the  only  reliefs  of  school  life. 

With  George  Owen  and  Richard  Doughty  as 
leaders,  the  scholars  of  all  classes  took  up  the  cry 
against  the  Jews,  and  no  one  lost  a  chance  of  tor- 
turing them  in  all  the  little  ways  of  school  boys. 


A   TALK   WITH   UNCLE   MOSES.  11 

It  was  not  that  they  had  any  true  reason ;  not 
that  the  Jews  troubled  them  ;  nor  were  the  ring- 
leaders in  the  attack  such  very  bad  boys;  but 
when  once  the  cry  of  persecution  was  begun,  it 
grew  as  days  went  by,  and  boys  took  part  in 
it,  who  would  have  been  ashamed  to  do  other 
less  dishonorable  acts.  To  annoy  the  Jews  was 
surely  not  wrong,  for  their  fathers  laughed  when 
they  were  told  about  it,  and  even  the  teachers 
always  sided  with  the  other  scholars. 

The  three  boys  were  thus  cut  off  from  the  rest 
by  an  invisible  barrier,  raised  by  older  hands. 
Full  of  life  and  spirits  and  boyish  fun,  they  were 
left  out  of  all  the  amusements  and  sports. 

It  was  a  hard  and  bitter  life.  Boys  love  com- 
panionship ;  and  the  cruelty  of  losing  all  its 
pleasures  and  being  set  apart  to  be  tortured,  ren- 
dered the  days  at  the  school  miserable,  and  made 
Moses  rebellious  and  sick  at  heart. 


CHAPTER  III. 
A  TALK  WITH  UNCLE  MOSES. 

"  Uncle,  why  do  the  other  boys  hate  us  so  ?" 
Moses  Montefiore  was  talking  with  his  uncle, 
Moses  Mocatta,  of  the  troubles  at  the  school,  and 


12  THINK    AND    THANK. 

asked  the  question,  not  that  the  thought  was  new, 
but  because  it  was  a  subject  always  forced  upon 
him. 

His  uncle  had  answered  the  query  many  times 
before.  He  was  never  tired  of  telling  his  nephew 
about  his  race,  while  he  watched  the  brave  boyish 
eyes,  that  seemed  to  drink  in  and  treasure  every 
word  that  he  spoke. 

After  synagogue,  on  Friday  evenings,  when 
the  children  were  blessed,  while  Moses  sat  at  his 
mother's  knees,  Uncle  Mocatta  had  begun  his  les- 
sons ;  not  that  they  seemed  lessons,  for  he  had 
woven  into  pleasant  stories  the  legends  of  his 
people  and  their  leaders.  Afterwards,  when  the 
boy  came  to  think,  and  questioned,  he  taught  him 
the  love  of  mankind,  told  of  his  race  and  their 
sorrows  and  persecutions ;  of  their  faith — un- 
changed in  all  the  centuries  that  had  passed,  and 
of  the  day  when  they  should  return  to  their  own 
land  of  promise — flowery  and  fertile  as  in  days 
gone  by. 

So,  when  his  pupil  was  confirmed  and  read 
his  lesson  aloud  from  the  Book  of  the  Law,  there 
was  a  depth  and  power  in  his  ways  that  made  the 
Rabbi  notice  him  as  he  had  never  noted  others. 

And  his  mother,  Rachel,  how  proud  she  was 


A    TALK    WITH    UNCLE    MOSES.  13 

of  her  first-born ;  yet,  sometimes,  when  she  saw 
the  gravity  of  the  boy,  she  was  fearful,  lest  her 
son  grow  old  beyond  his  years,  and  from  over- 
thoughtfulness  on  one  subject  see  but  one  side  of 
life. 

Then  Uncle  Josh,  who  had  left  his  law  office 
to  go  with  a  party  of  colonists  to  Africa,  had  come 
home,  filled  with  marvellous  tales  of  storms  at 
sea,  of  pirates,  of  insurgents  in  the  ranks  of  his 
party,  of  attacks  by  Indians,  of  the  dusky  kings 
and  strange  kingdoms  of  far-away  lands,  where 
there  were  fierce  and  curious  beasts  and  birds  of 
gay  plumage — stories  of  all  things  that  boys  love 
to  hear  about.  And  Moses  never  grew  tired  of 
them — it  mattered  not  how  often  they  were 
repeated.  He  dreamed  of  strange  adventures, 
and  thought  he  was  a  soldier,  like  his  uncle, 
leading  his  troops  into  the  fiercest  battles.  The 
king,  feeling  that  this  roving  life  had  unfitted 
Joshua  Montefiore  for  his  old  work,  in  apprecia- 
tion of  his  bravery,  had  offered  him  knighthood, 
which  he  declined.  He  asked,  instead,  a  commis- 
sion in  the  regular  army.  The  request  was 
granted,  and  he,  first  of  his  race,  was  regularly 
enrolled  in  the  king's  forces. 

Now,  Moses  wanted  to  become  a  warrior,  too, 


14  THINK   AND   THANK. 

and  fight  ,the  battles  of  his  king ;  and  he  was 
filled  with  the  glory  of  England,  and  knew  in 
his  heart  the  bravery  of  her  people  and  wished 
to  be 'a  free  man  among  them. 

And  the  battle  had  begun,  not  with  the 
enemies  of  his  king  and  country,  but  with  the 
very  soldiers  whose  banner  he  wished  to  lead  to 
victory.  So  it  was  that  he  came  to  his  uncle,  once 
more,  with  the  words  that  had  become  a  cry  of 
the  heart,  rather  than  a  question : 

"  Why  do  the  other  boys  hate  us  so  ?" 

Knowing  the  trouble  of  the  lad's  heart,  Uncle 
Joshua  made  no  attempt  to  answer  him  directly. 

"Moses,"  he  said,  "you  say  you  wish  to  be  a 
soldier.  I  want  you  to  be  one— not  with  a  red 
coat  and  white  cockade,  but  a  leader  in  a  good 
cause,  where  there  is  always  fighting  to  be  done." 

"What  is  it,  uncle?" 

"  I  will  tell  you,  some  day,  but  now  I  want  you 
to  know  that  to  be  a  soldier,  either  of  your  kind 
or  of  mine,  you  must  first  conquer  yourself;  after 
that  you  must  conquer  your  friends,  then  your 
fellows,  and,  finally,  the  enemies  of  your  people." 

"  Where'  does  George  Owen  come  in  ?  Shall 
I  fight  him  first?" 

"Not   if  }'ou    can   avoid    it;  but  if  you  are 


A    TALK    WITH    UNCLE   MOSES.  15 

forced  to  defend  yourself,  I  hope  you  will  beat 
him  so  badly  that  it  will  be  the  only  battle  of 
that  kind  you  will  ever  have  to  fight.  Remember, 
patience  and  forbearance  before  the  contest  will 
make  you  doubly  strong  should  the  fight  come." 

"  Uncle,  the  whole  school  is  against  us.  I 
think  I  have  a  fair  chance  for  first  place  in  the 
form  this  term ;  but  the  boys  jeer  me  and  seldom 
talk  to  me.  The  best  T  can  hope  for  is  to  be  left 
alone.  I  feel  like  leaving,  and  getting  rid  of  the 
whole  thing.  Other  boys  have  hard  enough  times 
with  their  enemies,  but  I  tell  you,  with  the  whole 
school  against  you,  it  is  too  much  for  any  one 
fellow." 

"  It  would  be  cowardly  to  leave ;  you  won't  do 
that?" 

"No,  I  suppose  not;  but  I  should  like  to, 
sometimes  " — thoughtfully. 

"  Conquer  them,  instead ;  by  brains,  by  force 
of  will,  by  calm  persistency  ;  if  necessary,  by  your 
animal  strength ;  more  than  all,  by  teaching 
them  to  know  you  as  one  fearless  and  deter- 
mined in  your  faith  and  manhood — but  conquer 
them.  When  they  are  yours,  then  come  and  talk 
to  me  about  being  a  soldier." 

Truly,  it  was  no  easy  task  that  his  uncle  had 
set  him. 


16  THINK 'AND  THANK. 

Mr.  Sever,  the  Head  Master,  wished  to  be  just, 
but  was  unconsciously  infected  with  the  prevail- 
ing feeling  against  the  Jews,  although  he  seldom 
found  anything  in  the  conduct  of  either  Moses  or  his 
brother  of  which  to  complain ;  the  tasks  that  were 
set  them  were  never  slighted.  The  monitors,  how- 
ever, were  tyrannical  and  unjust.  They  made  it  a 
matter  of  course  to  believe  all  tales  and  complaints 
against  the  oppressed  ones,  and  to  disregard  their 
word. 

George  Owen,  after  his  quarrel,  doubled  his 
hate,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  persecuting  his 
enemies,  and  stirring  up  the  others  to  plague 
them  with  all  manner  of  annoyances. 

They  called  rhymes  at  the  boys ;  spit-balls 
would  strike  them  unawares;  and,  when  Moses 
was  absent,  his  brother  was  pinched  and  hustled 
about  the  yard  with  a  cruelty  that  was  never- 
ceasing.  If  any  complaint  was  made  by  the 
teachers  as  to  broken  desks,  or  marked  books,»or 
bent  pins  placed  upon  chairs,  or  noises  in  the 
class-rooms,  Moses  or  Abraham  Montefiore  or 
Isaac  Goldsmid  were  almost  certain  to  be  blamed 
for  the  offence.  But  hardest  of  all  to  bear  were 
the  contemptuous  words,  and  to  have  always  the 
,cold  shoulder  turned  by  those  who  had  no  cause 
whatever. 


17 

As  the  days  went  by,  and  Owen  found  that 
Moses  avoided  him,  he  grew  more  and  more 
offensive ;  finally  he,  in  his  anxiety  for  revenge, 
devised  a  plan  to  bring  his  enemy  into  disgrace 
before  both  masters  and  scholars. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
GEORGE  OWEN'S  REVENGE. 

"By  whom  was  this  mouse  brought  here?" 

It  was  Professor  Heath  who  spoke. 

During  class  hour,  William  Day,  who  sat  next 
to  Moses,  had  let  loose  a  white  mouse,  that  he 
had  been  keeping  in  his  desk  as  a  pet. 

The  little  animal  ran  swiftly  up  the  aisle, 
towards  the  Professor,  and  when  it  had  almost 
reached  him,  sat  up  and  looked  about  gravely. 

Always  on  the  alert  for  fun,  the  boys  had 
noticed  the  escape  of  William's  pet,  and  watched 
it,  with  half  hushed  titters  and  great  interest. 

The  Professor,  busy  looking  up  a  reference, 
at  first  did  not  notice  the  trouble.  But  when  the 
mouse  sat  up  comically  before  him,  as  if  for  a 
lesson,  the  whole  class  burst  into  a  roar  of 
laughter. 


18  THINK    AND   THANK. 

Then  the  Professor  looked  up,  saw  the  cause 
of  the  disorder,  and  asked  the  question. 

"  It  came  from  under  that  desk,"  George  Owen 
said,  pointing  towards  Moses. 

"  Is  that  animal  yours,  sir  ?"  asked  Professor 
Heath. 

''No,  sir;  it  is  not,"  Moses  answered. 

"  You  may  do  two  hundred  lines,  and  be  con- 
fined two  hours,  after  school." 

For  some  unknown  reason,  Professor  Heath 
had  an  especial  aversion  to  Moses.  He  never  lost 
a  chance  of  inflicting  punishment  and  presumed 
guilt  upon  the  slightest  suspicion. 

"  Henry  Wingate  and  William  Day,  you  may 
catch  this  poor  creature  and  take  it  out.  We  will 
not  go  on  until  that  is  done.  The  other  boys 
may  keep  their  seats." 

Then  William  Day,  with  the  most  innocent  face 
in  the  world,  with  great  ease,  captured  his  own 
pet,  and  said  he  would  keep  it  in  his  desk  until 
school  was  over. 

This  is  how  it  happened  that  Moses  sat  in  the 
class-room  that  afternoon  as  evening  came  on. 
He  had  finished  his  task  of  two  hundred  lines, 
and  was  now  only  awaiting  the  expiration  of  the 
two  hours'  confinement.  Every  one  else  had  left 


GEORGE  OWEN'S  REVENGE.          19 

the  room.  The  soft  light  of  the  setting  sun  crept 
through  the  windows  of  the  old  school,  and  made 
the  boy  feel  lonely  and  deserted.  Bitter  thoughts 
were  in  his  heart,  that  he  should  have  marks 
made  against  the  average  of  which  his  mother 
would  have  been  so  proud,  and  be  compelled  to 
suffer  for  what  he  had  not  done. 

It  was  quite  dark  in  the  corner  where  he  sat, 
but,  in  the  half-light,  he  could  see  clearly  over 
the  whole  school. 

Presently,  some  one  looked  through  the  door. 
Moses  saw  that  it  was  Arthur  Snape,  a  first  form 
boy,  who  was  Owen's  fag.  He  was  a  timid  little 
fellow,  and  his  constant  ill-treatment  by  Owen 
had  made  him  sneaky.  Moses  thought  he  ap- 
peared especially  guilty  now,  for  he  crept  down 
the  row  of  desks,  looking  nervously  about  him 
until  he  reached  that  of  George  Owen.  This  he 
unlocked  with  a  key  he  took  from  his  pocket, 
and  put  in  a  book  and  a  box  about  six  inches 
square.  He  then  locked  the  desk,  and  quickly 
left  the  room,  not  knowing  that  Moses  was  there. 

The  second  hour  of  confinement  was  soon 
over,  and  Moses  gathered  up  his  books  to  go 
home.  While  he  was  at  his  desk,  he  was  certain 
that  he  heard  a  sound  like  the  gnawing  of  a 


20  THINK    AND    THANK. 

mouse,  coming  from  Owen's  desk,  which  was 
across  the  aisle  from  his  own.  He  thought  little 
of  it  at  the  time,  however,  as  it  was  a  very  com- 
mon thing  for  the  boys  to  keep  pets  of  various 
kinds  in  the  school-room  —despite  the  danger  of 
punishment. 

Next  morning,  Professor  Heath  was  somewhat 
late,  and  strode  nervously  up  the  aisle.  He 
looked  irritated,  and  was  evidently  in  a  bad 
humor.  There  was  a  spirit  of  expectancy  on  the 
faces  of  several  boys,  that  Moses  did  not  notice. 

The  Professor  laid  his  books  down  rather 
noisily,  took  a  key  from  his  pocket,  and  tried  to 
unlock  the  desk.  Something  was  the  matter. 
He  fumbled  with  the  lock,  and  cried  angrily  that 
some  one  had  been  meddling  with  it. 

All  was  silence. 

The  Professor  muttered  to  himself,  and  then, 
with  a  loud  exclamation,  forced  up  the  lid. 

As  he  did  so,  a  large  rat  jumped  out,  almost 
in  his  face,  and.  with  a  shrill  shriek,  scampered 
over  the  floor. 

The  Professor  dropped  the  lid  with  a  crash 
and  started  back  in  astonishment,  uttering  a  cry 
of  mingled  fright  and  rage.  He  grew  livid  with 
anger. 


GEORGE  OWEN'S  REVENGE.          21 

The  outburst  of  laughter  by  the  scholars  was 
checked,  and  died  away  in  a  murmur  of  fear  as 
they  saw  the  effect  of  the  joke.  But  the  worst 
was  to  come. 

The  Professor  opened  his  desk  once  more. 
The  boys  could  not  see  him  as  he  gazed  into  its 
depths.  When  he  closed  the  lid  and  looked  over 
at  them  again,  there  was  less  of  anger  than  of 
desperation  on  his  face. 

"  Do  any  of  the  boys  know  what  was  done  with 
the  roll  of  manuscript,  taken  from  this  desk  ?" 

There  was  no  reply. 

"Answer  me,  at  once,"  he  cried,  growing  angry 
again.  "  It  was  a  life-work  of  mine.  I  can  never 
replace  it." 

But  the  boys  were  too  frightened  to  speak. 

He'  searched  under  his  desk,  and  on  the  floor 
under  the  seats  near  by.  Suddenly  he  stood  up 
with  a  book  in  his  hand.  It  was  a  well- 
thumbed  volume. 

"  Whose  is  this  ?"  he  thundered.  "  Who  brings 
cribs  into  this  school  ?" 

Silence  again.     He  turned  over  the  leaves. 

"  Moses  Montefiore,  come  here !" 

Moses  at  once  went  up  to  the  desk  and  stood 
firmly  before  him. 


22  THINK    AND    THANK. 

"Did  you  break  open  my  desk?" 

"No,  sir;  I  did  not,"  Moses  said,  quietly,  but 
with  a  trembling  voice.  "  I  know  nothing  of  it 
at  all." 

"  Then,  how  is  it  that  I  find  under  my  desk  a 
crib  with  your  initials  in  it?"  and  he  held  up  the 
book,  and  pointed  to  some  letters  scrawled  there. 

"  I  do  not  know,  sir,"  Moses  said.  But,  in  his 
heart,  he  thought  of  Arthur  Snape,  on  the  evening 
before,  with  the  box  and  book;  and  then  the 
sound  from  Owen's  desk. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  do  not  know  ?" 
Professor  Heath  cried,  growing  more  furious  with 
each  denial.  "  You  were  punished  for  having  a 
mouse  here,  yesterday,  and  now,  not  content  with 
breaking  open  my  desk  and  putting  a  rat  in  it, 
you  steal  my  manuscript,  that  is  worth  more  to 
me  than  your  whole  life.  Go  to  your  seat,  sir. 
I  shall  report  you  to  the  Head  Master  to  be 
flogged  before  the  whole  school  this  afternoon." 

Moses  went  back  to  his  place,  hot  and  defiant 
with  the  injustice  put  upon  him,  but  knowing 
how  serious  the  matter  was. 

To  be  flogged  before  the  whole  school  by  the 
Head  Master  was  a  punishment  reserved  only  for 
a  serious  offence,  and  second  only  in  disgrace  to 


23 

expulsion.  The  monitors  and  professors  had 
power  to  punish  by  caning ;  but,  so  far,  Moses 
had  escaped  this  indignity.  And  now,  to  be 
flogged  before  the  whole  school  for  something  that 
he  had  not  done  !  What  would  his  mother  say  ? 
And  Uncle  Moses? 

The  hours  wore  slowly  away.  Moses  could  not 
study,  and  he  missed  in  his  recitations  on  the 
simplest  things.  It  was  not  fear  of  physical  pain 
that  troubled  him,  he  cared  nothing  for  that ;  it 
was  the  disgrace. 

His  punishment  was  reserved  for  the  end  of 
the  day,  when  all  the  classes  were  assembled 
together  for  the  closing  of  school. 

The  Head  Master,  who  was  a  narrow-faced, 
hard-looking  man,  heard  the  complaint  and 
report  of  Professor  Heath,  and  then  called  Moses 
before  him. 

The  boy  never  forgot  the  scene.  At  the 
announcement  of  his  name  there  was  a  murmur 
from  the  school,  that,  as  he  left  his  seat  and  strode 
towards  the  Master,  died  into  silence. 

As  he  passed  the  first  form  boys,  Moses  caught 
the  eyes  of  Andrew  Snape.  There  was  a  pitiful 
look  in  them  of  fear,  of  sorrow,  of  guilt ;  and 
Moses  was  certain  that  this  boy,  as  Owen's  fag, 


24  THINK    AND    THANK. 

had  done  the  thing  that  he  was  about  to  be 
punished  for. 

"  What  have  you  to  say  ?" 

It  was  Professor  Sever's  voice,  in  cold,  severe 
tones,  merciless,  as  of  a  mind  made  up. 

"  I  did  not  have  anything  to  do  with  breaking 
open  the  desk.  I  knew  nothing  about  it,  until 
the  Professor  came  in  -this  morning." 

"  Where  did  this  book  come  from  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know,  sir." 

"  Why  does  it  have  your  initials  in  it?" 

"  I  do  not  know,  sir ;  I  never  use  a  crib ;  I 
never  saw  it  before.  Any  one  who  could  write 
might  put  those  letters  there." 

"  Do  you  know  who  did  this  thing  ?  or  whose 
book  this  is  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know,  positively ;  but  I  think  I 
could  point  out  the  boys  who  did  it." 

Moses  cast  his  eyes  over  the  school.  George 
Owen  refused  to  meet  them,  and  looked  down, 
while  he  picked  nervously  at  his  desk  with  a  pencil. 

"  What  a  mean,  cruel  face,"  Moses  thought. 
"  He  is  always  telling  lies  on  me.  What  do  I  owe 
him  that  I  should  be  disgraced  like  this  for 
him  ?"  and  he  thought  of  his  mother,  and  knew 
how  it  would  hurt  her. 


25 

Then  he  turned  to  his  judges.  As  he  did  so, 
his  eyes  again  met  those  of  Andrew  Snape.  The 
little  fellow  seemed  fascinated  by  the  scene,  but 
his  face  bore  in  it  the  anguish  of  a  condemned 
criminal.  It  seemed  to  Moses  to  be  saying : 

"Don't  tell;  please  don't  tell!  I  couldn't 
stand  it." 

"  Well,  give  your  information !"  said  Professor 
Sever. 

"I  am  not  certain.  I  could  not  tell  on  them, 
anyhow.  I  am  not  a  tell-tale." 

The  Head  Master  addressed  the  school : 

"  Is  there  any  boy  here  who  can  tell  where 
this  manuscript  is  that  has  been  lost?  It  is  a 
work  of  such  value  that  no  money  could  buy  it. 
Does  any  one  know  anything  of  it  ?" 

But  the  school  was  silent. 

Professor  Heath  and  the  Head  Master  con- 
sulted together  in  low  tones.  Finally,  the  latter 
said  to  Moses : 

"  Take  off  your  jacket." 

It  was  quickly  thrown  off.  Two  of  the  moni- 
tors were  called  up  to  hojd  him. 

"  You  needn't  hold  me,"  Moses  said.  "  I  will 
not  move." 

There  was  something  so  fearless  about  the  boy 


26  THINK    AND    THANK. 

that  his  judges  told  the  two  assistants  they  might 
stand  back. 

The  boy  set  his  teeth  as  the  Master  came  for- 
ward and  raised  the  pliable  cane.  He  could  never, 
afterwards,  forget  it  all.  The  faces  of  the  scholars 
— curious  and  gaping  with  the  cruel  interest  of 
school  boys ;  the  thoughts  that  surged  in  his  brain ; 
the  heated  anger ;  the  humiliation,  then  the  hiss 
of  the  stick  as  it  descended  and  the  vile  pain  of 
the  stroke.  He  knew  not  how  many  times  it  rose 
and  fell,  but  he  was  certain  that  he  made  no 
outcry. 

Flogging  is  brutal ;  it  debases  both  master  and 
scholar.  There  is  a  devil  in  the  hearts  of  most 
men  that  arouses  with  the  taste  of  cruelty,  like  a 
beast  of  prey  over  blood.  It  makes  them  more 
furious  with  their  failure  to  evoke  signs  of  pain. 
Professor  Sever  was  not  different  from  other  men 
in  this  way.  Moses  was  stubborn  and  would  not 
show  his  suffering  by  tears  or  cries,  and  so  the 
Head  Master  did  not  cease  his  brutality  until  his 
arm  was  tired,  and  the  back  of  his  pupil  covered 
with  great  welts  that  burned  like  the  tracks  of  a 
red-hot  iron. 

"  You  may  replace  your  jacket." 

The  boy  was  almost  fainting  with  pain;  but 


27 

he  pulled  himself  together,  by  a  great  effort,  and 
strode  down  the  aisle  to  his  place. 

The  other  boys  looked  at  him  curiously.  It 
had  been  their  custom  to  cry  as  loud  as  they  were 
able,  and  thus,  by  making  the  punishment  seem 
severe,  escape  the  worst.  They  had  never  seen  a 
boy  beaten  as  this  one  was,  yet  he  uttered  not  a 
sound  through  it  all— and  they  felt  that  here  was 
a  lad  different  from  themselves,  and  something  of 
the  admiration  for  a  hero  came  over  them.  For 
many  a  day,  afterwards,  they  talked  together  of 
the  nerve  of  the  Jew. 

But  the  agony  of  the  physical  pain  was  noth- 
ing to  the  mental  torture  of  Moses.  His  mind 
was  bitter;  the  world  was  all  wrong  to  him,  and 
he  wished  he  might  die  for  very  shame ;  for,  with- 
out wrong-doing  on  his  part,  he  had  been  flogged 
by  the  Head  Master  before  the  whole  school ! 


CHAPTER  V. 
A  BULLY'S  DOWNFALL. 

In  the  indignation  of  her  heart,  at  the  story  of 
her  son's  trouble,  Rachel  said  that  Moses  should 
not  return  to  the  school. 

"But,  mother,"  he   said,  "I   had   rather    go 


28  THINK    AND    THANK. 

back;  I  couldn't  leave  now;  I  didn't  do  it,  and 
time  will  show  it  so  to  everybody.  I  will  fight  it 
out,  no  matter  what  happens." 

And  his  mother  knew  that  it  was  for  the  best 
that  he  should  not  give  up.  The  flogging  of 
scholars,  in  the  days  of  which  I  write,  was  not 
considered  of  very  serious  moment  by  parents, 
even  when  it  was  done  without  much  cause.  In 
this  case,  however,  it  had  hurt  Rachel  deeply  to 
hear  of  this  injustice  to  her  son.  She  felt  it  to  be 
one  of  the  petty  race  prejudices  from  which  she 
had  so  often  suffered  and  which  she  knew  so  well 
—the  bitter  of  which  was  to  be  for  always  the 
heritage  of  her  son. 

Moses  had  thrown  himself  down  upon  the  rug 
in  front  of  the  bright  wood  fire,  and  his  head  was 
resting  on  his  mother's  knees. 

So  they  sat  in  silence  for  many  moments. 
Was  it  wrong,  she  wondered,  to  love  her  boy  so 
dearly — to  worship  any  one  so,  save  God;  to  feel 
in  her  heart  such  wild  anger  at  those  who  injured 
him.  The  fire  crackled  merrily,  and  a  warm  glow 
of  light  was  about  him.  After  a  time  she  laid 
her  hand  on  his  head. 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  going  back,  my  darling," 
she  said,  softly.  "I  am  glad  you  are  to  be  a 


29 

manly  man.  Keep  on  bravely ;  the  sky  will  be 
brighter  soon.  You  will  be  cleared  of  all  this 
trouble,  and  will  win  the  boys  to  your  side  in  the 
end." 

"  With  all  my  efforts  I  have  only  one  friend,  so 
far,  except  Isaac,  and  that  is  Noel  Hilton.  Isn't 
it  strange,  mother,  that  a  boy  who  is  such  a  swell 
and  fop  should  be  so  independent  in  his  likes?" 

"  He's  not  a  bully ;  a  swaggerer  is  not  always 
a  coward,  Moses,  and  fashion  in  dress  does  not 
always  change  a  boy's  heart.  To  have  Noel  on 
your  side  is  a  good  beginning.  Keep  on,  dear 
boy,  and  the  others  will  turn  at  last." 

"That's  what  Uncle  Moses  says;  but  I  have 
been  trying  so  hard,  and  look  what  has  been  done 
to  me!" 

"I  know;  but  you  must  not  be  out  of  heart. 
If  there  were  no  trouble,  there  would  be  no  credit 
for  fighting  it." 

"All  boys  have  troubles,  but  not  as  many  as 
we  do.  This  is  the  sort  we  can't  help.  I  try  so 
hard  to  be  kind,  and  because  they  can  call  me  a 
Jew  they  hate  me." 

Rachel  knew  of  the  many  trials  there  must  be 
in  all  lives,  no  matter  how  free  from  care  they 
seem,  and  her  heart  was  full  of  sorrow  and  love 


30  THINK    AND    THANK. 

for  her  brave  boy.  She  leaned  down  and  kissed 
his  hair  softly,  and  whispered  to  him  words  of 
comfort;  and  he  felt  at  peace,  and  had  new 
strength  for  the  morrow's  battle. 

The  next  morning,  Moses  and  Isaac  Goldsmid 
set  off  for  school  together,  Moses  very  stiff  and 
sore  in  body,  and  his  heart  bitter  and  rebellious, 
yet  quiet,  with  determination. 

"  Who  did  the  trick?"  Isaac  asked. 

"  I  am  certain  it  was  put  up  by  Owen ;  and 
that  poor  little  sneak,  Snape,  helped  carry  it  out." 

And  Moses  told  all  he  had  seen  in  the  school 
room,  the  evening  before  the  trouble. 

"  How  did  that  crib,  with  your  initials  in  it, 
get  there  ?" 

"  That  was  part  of  the  plan,  no  doubt.  Owen 
wanted  to  get  even  with  old  Heath,  and  hurt  me 
at  the  same  time,  and  he  put  my  initials  in  the 
crib,  and  purposely  left  it  on  the  floor,  or  got 
Snape  to  do  it." 

"What  was  it  the  Professor  lost?" 

"Something  about  'Oliver  Cromwell/  I  be- 
lieve. He  has  been  at  it  for  years ;  looked  up  a 
lot  of  references  and  stuff.  It's  a  big  loss  to  him. 
I  wish  I  could  find  it  for  him.  It's  no  wonder 
the  poor  chap's  mad." 


A  BULLY'S  DOWNFALL.  31 

"  I  think  you  will  have  to  fight  Owen  before 
he'll  learn  to  let  you  alone.  If  you  can  thrash 
him,  and  clear  yourself  of  this  bother  with  old 
Heath,  things  might  come  all  easy." 

"  I  believe  I  can  lick  him,  if  I  have  a  fair 
chance.  He's  a  miserable,  sneaky  scamp." 

The  class  was  unusually  quiet  on  this  day. 
The  punishment  of  Moses  had  had  a  sobering 
effect  on  the  boys.  They  looked  at  him  curiously, 
and  at  recess  several  of  them  asked  him  how  he 
felt.  Noel,  in  particular,  was  very  kind  to  him. 

"  I  know  you  didn't  put  that  joke  up  on  old 
Heath,"  he  said.  "  It  was  Owen  who  did  it ;  it's 
because  you  thrashed  him  so  that  he's  trying  to 
hurt  you  this  way.  You'll  have  to  lick  him 
again,  I  fancy,  before  you'll  get  rid  of  him." 

George  Owen  seemed  in  particularly  good 
humor.  He  did  not  speak,  but  his  laughter,  as 
he  passed  with  Dick  Doughty,  was  evidently  in- 
tended for  the  ears  of  his  enemy. 

How  bitter  Moses  felt  towards  him,  no  one 
can  know.  There  was  something  so  contemp- 
tible about  all  that  Owen  had  done,  that  he 
loathed  him,  rather  than  hated  with  the  spirit 
of  anger.  To  look  upon  this  boy,  who  could  drag 
a  little  fellow  into  his  plans,  deliberately  conspire 


32  THINK    AND    THANK. 

% 

to  put  the  blame  for  his  own  offence  on  another, 
and  then  jeer  about  it,  made  Moses  sick  with 
disgust. 

"  How  is  your  Jew  friend's  back  ?"  Owen  said 
to  Noel,  later  on. 

"  Like  yours  would  be,  if  the  guilty  one  had 
been  flogged,"  Noel  replied,  sharply. 

"  Look  out  you  don't  get  your  own  sore," 
Owen  cried,  angrily.  But  he  went  on  without 
any  attempt  to  fight  about  it. 

The  loss  of  his  manuscript  had  made  Profes- 
sor Heath  more  nervous  and  irritable  than  ever ; 
but  Moses  was  unfailing  in  his  studies  and  reci- 
tations, and  life  began  to  drift  back  into  the  old 
ways. 

George  Owen  was  not  satisfied.  The  boys 
in  his  set  taunted  him  sometimes,  that  he  was 
afraid  of  the  Jew  in  a  fight,  and  Noel  had  annoyed 
him  by  telling  him  that  if  he  did  not  look  out 
Moses  would  beat  the  life  out  of  him. 

Several  days  had  passed  and  it  was  a  half  holi- 
day. A  large  number  of  the  scholars  gathered 
about  the  doors  to  talk  over  their  plans  for  sport. 
A  slight  snow  had  fallen  in  the  night,  and  some 
few  snow  balls  were  being  thrown  about. 

•  Moses  and  Isaac  Goldsmid  crossed  the  yard 


A  BULLY'S  DOWNFALL.  33 

* 

together  on  their  way  home.  Isaac  stopped  for  a 
moment  to  talk  with  Hilton,  and  his  companion 
lingered  waiting  for  him.  A  number  of  snow 
balls  fell  about  him,  but  the}7"  came  from  a 
distance  and  missed  their  mark. 

Presently  Owen,  urged  on  by  the  taunts  of  his 
companions,  made  a  hard  ball  of  slush  and  mud 
and  approached  close  to  Moses,  with  the  evident 
intention  of  throwing  it  at  him. 

"  Don't  throw  that  at  me,  or  I'll  hurt  you/' 
Moses  said,  fiercely. 

Almost  at  the  same  instant  he  was  struck  with 
the  missile  on  the  side  of  the  head,  and  the  slush 
and  mud  spattered  all  over  him. 

An  attack  from  such  a  source  stung  him  to 
anger. 

"  You  shall  pay  for  this,"  he  cried. 

"A  fight !  a  fight!"  was  heard  from  several  boys, 
and  in  a  moment  a  crowd  surrounded  the  com- 
batants. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  said  between  them. 
In  an  instant  Moses  threw  off  his  coat,  and  Owen 
did  likewise. 

Goldsmid  stood  by  his  friend  to  see  fair  play, 
and  Hilton  backed  him  up. 

Owen   was   championed    by    his    lieutenant, 


34  THINK    AND   THANK. 

Richard  Doughty ;  yet,  though  he  was  the  bully 
of  the  school,  the  dislike  to  the  Jews  was  so  deep 
that  he  had  the  support  of  most  of  the  larger 
fellows.  The  little  boys,  it  is  true,  from  the  many 
cruelties  put  upon  them  by  Owen,  were  in 
sympathy  with  Moses,  though  they  dared  not 
say  so. 

"  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  intend  to  see  a 
fair  fight,  according  to  the  rules,"  Hilton  said, 
that  every  one  might  hear.  "  There  has  been 
enough  meanness  towards  Monti  in  this  school, 
and  if  you  fellows  are  gentlemen,  you  will  see 
this  thing  fought  square." 

"  That's  so — that's  so — "  came  from  a  number 
of  voices. 

Fighting  was  not  considered  much  of  an 
offence  at  the  school,  provided  it  was  fairly  con- 
ducted. So  much  interest  was  taken  in  wrestling 
and  boxing,  and  like  sports,  that  an  affair  with 
fists  was  looked  upon  more  in  the  light  of  a  trial 
of  strength  than  a  serious  matter.  The  monitors 
and  teachers  did  not  interfere  unless  it  was 
absolutely  necessary. 

The  two  boys  were  not  well  matched  in  size. 
Owen  was  heavier  and  stronger.  To  the  careless 
eye  he  was  a  certain  victor  in  the  coming  contest. 


35 

But  one  used  to  measuring  fighting  values  would 
have  seen  in  him  many  defects.  He  was  clumsy; 
his  legs  were  not  as  well  put  together  as  his  arms 
and  body,  and,  in  a  contest  of  endurance,  his 
powers  were  uncertain. 

His  antagonist,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
slight,  was  perfect  in  his  physical  development. 
He  had  the  clear  health  of  his  race.  His  straight, 
muscular  legs,  the  tense  lower  arms,  displayed  as 
he  rolled  up  his  sleeves,  and  the  general  air  of 
compact  strength  marked  him  as  one  whom  Owen 
might  well  fear. 

"  Take  time ;  play  out  his  wind,"  Isaac  said,  as 
his  friend  stepped  out  and  threw  up  his  fists. 

Owen,  though  not  a  coward,  would  gladly 
have  avoided  this  fight.  But  he  knew  his  place 
in  the  estimation  of  his  followers  depended  on 
success ;  and  their  taunts  and  the  excitement  had 
aroused  him  to  wild  anger. 

He  rushed  furiously  at  Moses,  who  dodged 
him.  Again  and  again  this  happened. 

"  Hurrah !  Hurrah  for  Owen !  The  Jew's 
afraid,"  cried  Doughty  and  two  or  three  others. 

"  Hold  your  jaw,"  Noel  said  ;  "  the  fight  has 
not  begun  yet." 

At  last,  as  Moses  sought  to  avoid  his  enemy 


36  THINK    AND    THANK. 

once  more,  his  foot  slipped  and  his  opponent 
struck  him,  as  he  fell,  a  hard  blow  on  the  side  of 
the  face. 

This  success  was  greeted  with  applause  by  the 
bully's  followers. 

"  Keep  it  up,"  Isaac  said,  after  Moses  had 
recovered.  "  You  have  winded  him  badly,  now. 
A  little  more,  and  then  you  can  fight  him  to  win. 
Don't  get  rattled  by  anything.  Science  and  pluck 
will  tell.  Don't  hurry." 

The  next  round,  and  the  next  after  that, 
passed  writh  a  few  blows  upon  the  body  of  each ; 
much  avoiding  and  parrying  by  Moses  and  wild 
pursuit  by  Owen. 

"  Now,"  Isaac  said  to  Moses,  in  low  tones,  "give 
it  to  him !  End  him,  once  and  for  all.  Your  whole 
future  here  depends  on  it.  Don't  fail." 

It  was  a  fight  now ;  blows  fell  upon  both,  hard 
and  fast,  and  when  a  pause  was  called,  neither 
could  be  said  to  have  the  advantage,  although 
Owen  was  the  most  severely  punished — his  face 
bore  the  marks  of  two  or  three  straight-out  hits. 
His  endurance  was  fast  leaving  him. 

Again  the  boys  met. 

Owen  tried  to  rush  in  upon  his  adversary  and 
blind  him  with  the  rapidity  of  his  attack.     He 


37 

aimed  more  than  one  foul  blow,  but  Moses  parried 
well,  avoided  his  wild  rushes,  and  when  chance 
offered,  struck  him  on  the  side  of  the  head  and 
knocked  him  down  with  the  suddenness  that 
told  of  a  hit  from  the  shoulder. 

Owen  did  not  rise  for  some  seconds. 

"Do  you  give  up?"  Isaac  asked  of  Doughty. 

"What  do  you  take  us  for?"  Dick  answered. 
"We  are  just  beginning." 

"He's  beaten;  tell  them  we  are  satisfied," 
Moses  said  to  Isaac. 

"  Remember  all  he  has  done  to  you  ;  the  flog- 
ging you  got.  This  means  your  peace  of  life. 
You  owe  him  nothing  for  lies  and  tattling.  Give 
him  enough  this  time.  Show  him  who  you  are, 
and  stop  his  bullying  forever." 

Owen  stood  up  once  more.  His  eyes  were 
inflamed  with  anger,  and  the  bruises  on  his  face 
made  him  a  very  ugly-looking  enemy.  But  his 
wind  was  gone,  and  he  began  to  feel  that  defeat 
was  on  his  track. 

He  could  not  get  a  blow  on  Moses'  face,  and 
struck  him  but  twice  lightly  on  his  body.  Once, 
twice,  thrice  he  was  struck  himself — hard,  honest 
blows,  filled  with  some  return  for  his  misdeeds 
to  Moses.  Each  time  he  grew  weaker.  He  lost 


38  THINK    AND    THANK. 

his  head;  he  saw  the  disappointed  faces  of  his 
followers,  knew  that  the  victory  was  leaving  him, 
made  one  wild  rush  in  his  anger,  and  then 
received  such  a  blow  in  the  face  that  it  was  half 
a  minute  before  he  knew  that  he  was  lying  flat  in 
the  mud,  with  Dick  Doughty  holding  his  head, 
and  the  crowd  closed  in  about  them. 

The  fight  was  over. 

Owen's  days  of  bullying  were  ended,  so  far  as 
Moses  was  concerned.  The  Jew  had  beaten  him 
by  his  science,  pluck  and  endurance. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
A  MYSTERY  CLEARED  UP. 

Do  not  look  upon  life  as  a  fight,  you  who  have 
read  the  preceding  chapter.  Rather  think  and 
know  the  world  as  a  place  where  kindness  and 
determination  can  do  more  than  all  else.  Happi- 
ness cannot  be  found  in  crushing  others,  even 
though  they  are  your  enemies.  To  each  one,  I 
say,  lend  your  efforts  towards  the  time  to  come, 
when,  as  men,  you  will  live  with  help  in  your 
hearts  for  each  other,  when  life  will  be  more  to 
you  than  a  struggle  for  wealth  and  selfish  desires. 


A   MYSTERY    CLEARED    UP.  39 

Then,  if  you  are  forced  into  a  quarrel,  you  will  be 
doubly  strong.  Fight  fair,  be  open  and  win. 

Moses  had  been  patient,  he  had  endured  until 
his  life  became  miserable,  and  when  the  time 
came,  the  battle  was  his  and  the  bully  of  the 
school  was  conquered. 

But  his  victory  was  more  than  that.  It  was 
not  a  mere  brawl  between  two  quarrelsome  boys 
that  he  had  taken  part  in.  That  one  could  so 
calmly  bear  the  insults  heaped  upon  him  day  by 
day;  that  he  could  take  a  flogging  for  another's 
ill-doing  and  not  tell  or  cry  out;  that,  when  the 
battle  was  forced  on  him,  he  had  displayed 
such  calmness,  such  skill — and,  above  -all,  had 
beaten  the  braggart  and  bully  who  controlled  the 
class — it  was  more  than  the  downfall  of  Owen- 
it  was  a  conquest  of  almost  every  boy  in  the 
school. 

It  was  useless  now  for  the  defeated  one  or  his 
second,  Dick  Doughty,  and  the  few  cronies  they 
had,  to  try  and  stir  up  strife  against  the  Jew  boys. 
Victory  was  on  their  banners.  It  needed  not 
Noel's  help  to  show  the  truth ;  many  of  the  others 
did  not  like  those  whom  he  defended,  but  they 
stopped  their  petty  annoyances.  Even  the  most 
brutal  and  careless  had  an  involuntary  respect  for 


40  THINK    AND    THANK. 

one  who,  in  his  boyish  strength  and  bravery, 
could  patiently  endure  so  much. 

And  so,  if  life  for  Moses  was  not  easy,  it,  day 
by  day,  grew  less  hard.  He  had  hope  now  in  his 
heart.  He  could  see  the  effects  of  his  efforts,  and 
he  planned  to  succeed,  in  time,  in  many  ways. 

For  the  masters  were  still  against  him.  Pro- 
fessor Heath  mourned,  day  and  night,  over  his 
lost  manuscript.  It  had  been  his  pet;  the  years 
he  had  spent  on  it  endeared  it  to  him  beyond  any 
one  thing  else  in  the  world.  He  had  not  the 
heart  to  begin  the  work  anew. 

Moses  knew  of  this  from  the  talk  among  the 
boys,  and  he  could  almost  forgive  the  unjust 
flogging  he  had  received  when  he  thought  of  the 
sorrow  of  the  loss,  to  one,  the  results  of  whose  time 
and  labor  had  vanished,  by  reason  of  the  vicious 
spite  of  a  school  boy.  He  felt  sure  that  if  the 
manuscript  had  not  been  destroyed  Andrew 
Snape  knew  where  it  was,  and  he  determined  to 
find  out  from  him  about  the  fact. 

The  little  fellow  was  still  in  mortal  fear  of 
Owen.  It  was  evident  that  his  tormentor  held 
over  him  the  wrong  he  had  done,  and  threatened 
to  put  all  the  blame  on  him,  should  he  fail  to  do 
as  ordered. 


A    MYSTERY    CLEARED    UP.  41 

How  to  get  the  truth  from  him,  and  recover 
the  lost-  manuscript  was  now  the  question 
with  Moses.  It  must  be  done  without  letting 
the  boy  have  time  to  see  Owen,  in  case  he  con- 
fessed. If  he  did  so,  the  manuscript,  if  in 
existence,  would  be  hidden  in  another  place  or 
destroyed. 

Montefiore  kept  a  careful  watch  for  his  chance 
to  speak  to  Andrew  alone,  but  the  boy  avoided 
him;  Owen,  too,  seemed  always  on  the  lookout 
lest  he  should  peach. 

At  last,  one  day,  Andrew  was  ordered  to  stay 
in  two  hours,  after  school,  as  a  punishment  for 
missing  recitations.  That  afternoon  Moses  found 
that  Owen  was  to  play  cricket  on  the  grounds  out 
of  town;  and  he  felt  this  was  to  be  his  looked-for 
opportunity. 

As  evening  came  on,  he  found  Andrew  alone 
in  the  school  room.  The  boy  was  sitting  at  his 
desk,  with  his  head  in  his  hands,  and  did  not 
notice  Moses  as  he  came  up  softly  behind  him. 
The  poor  little  fellow  was  crying  and  in  evident 
great  distress. 

"Andrew,"  Moses  said,  putting  his  hand  on 
his  shoulder. 

The  boy  started  up  quickly. 


42  THINK    AND   THANK. 

"Let  me  alone,"  he  said,  trying  to  shake  him- 
self free. 

"Snapej  I  want  to  talk  with  you,"  Moses  went 
on. 

"What  is  it?  I  ain't  done  nothin'  to  you.  I 
don't  know  anything  about  it." 

To  Moses  this  was  a  confession  of  guilt. 

"  Andrew,  I  am  sorry  for  you.  I  don't  want  to 
hurt  you.  If  I  had,  I  would  have  told  Professor- 
Heath  that  I  saw  you,  the  day  before  the  trouble, 
in  the  school  room  with  a  box  with  a  rat  in  it, 
and  that  crib." 

"  I  didn't  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  was 
all  George  Owen.  He  did  it." 

"  He  made  you  do  it,  you  mean.  I  know  the 
truth,  and  you  had  better  tell  me  all  about  it.'; 

"I  didn't  do  it,  I  tell  you.  I  don't  know 
nothin'  at  all  about  it." 

"I  will  give  you  a  chance,  Andrew.  If  you 
will  tell  me  all,  and  give  me  the  manuscript  of 
Professor  Heath,  I  will  not  say  a  word  about  you 
being  in  it,  or  Owen  either.  If  you  don't,  I  shall 
tell  the  Head  Master  all  I  know  to-morrow." 

The  mention  of  the  Head  Master  was  too 
much  for  Snape.  For  days  his  nerves  had  been 
overwrought  with  the  wrong  he  had  done,  and 


A    MYSTERY    CLEARED    UP.  43 

the  weight  of  the  lost  manuscript  on  his  mind; 
now  he  broke  down  completely. 

"Oh!  don't  tell  on  me;  don't  tell.  It  was  all 
George  Owen.  I  didn't  mean  to  do  anything 
wrong.  I  will  tell  you  everything.  I  can  get 
the  manuscript  for  you  right  off.  Oh!  don't  tell; 
please  don't  tell  on  me." 

It  was  just  as  Moses  had  suspected.  The  plot 
had  been  arranged  by  Owen,  who  had  made  his 
fag  break  open  the  desk  with  a  chisel,  put  the 
rat  in,  and  leave  the  crib  with  Moses'  initials 
in  it  on  the  floor,  and  then  bring  away  the 
manuscript  that  he  knew  the  Professor  prized  so 
highly. 

"  Where  is  the  manuscript,  now?"  Moses  asked. 

"It's  in  my  box,  up-stairs.  I  will  get  it  right 
away,  and  I'll  be  glad  when  it  is  gone,  too.  Oh! 
don't  tell  on  me;  don't  tell.  I  couldn't  stand  a 
flogging  and  all  the  fellows  knowing." 

"See  that  you  don't  say  anything  to  Owen 
about  this.  I  intend  to  give  the  writing  back  to 
the  Professor  to-morrow.  If  Owen  threatens  you, 
tell  him  you  have  told  me  all  about  it,  and  that, 
if  he  touches  you,  you  will  tell  me,  and  I'll  report 
the  whole  thing  to  the  Head  Master." 

Andrew's  time  of  punishment  was  up  in  a  few 


44  THINK    AND   THANK. 

minutes,  and  Moses  went  with  him  and  got  the 
manuscript.  The  little  boy  was  almost  happy  to 
get  it  out  of  his  box,  and  seemed  to  be  easier  in 
his  mind,  now  that  Moses  had  taken  up  the  task 
of  returning  it. 

The  next  day,  when  Moses  was  called  up  for 
recitation,  he  carried  the  precious  roll  with  him. 

"Professor  Heath,"  he  said,  as  he  held  it  out 
to  him,  "  I  have  found  your  manuscript." 

The  Professor  was  so  overjoyed  at  its  recovery 
that  he  had  no  thought  for  anything  else.  He 
took  the  roll  and  examined  it.  It  was  uninjured. 

"Where  did  you  get  this,"  he  asked,  finally. 

"I  got  it,  sir,  by  promising  not  to  tell.  I 
cannot  break  my  word." 

"  Well,  you  have  been  punished  for  taking  it, 
I  shall  not  punish  you  for  bringing  it  back.  You 
may  go  to  your  seat.  I  am  not  convinced  that 
I  have  not  made  a  mistake  about  you." 

At  recess  Moses  found  Owen  alone,  and  spoke 
to  him  about  the  trouble. 

"I  want  to  tell  you,  now,"  he  said,  "that  I 
have  known  that  you  did  this  from  the  begin- 
ning. I  didn't  want  that  poor  little  Snape  to  get 
punished,  and  so  you  have  been  saved.  But  if 
you  ever  bother  that  boy  in  the  smallest  way, 


A    MYSTERY    CLEARED   UP.  45 

or  I  catch  you  doing  any  mean  tricks  to  any  of 
the  little  chaps,  the  Head  Master  shall  know  all 
about  it.  You  have  been  a  mean  enough  sneak  to 
me,  but  that  doesn't  so  much  matter.  I  want  you 
to  let  the  little  fellows  alone." 

Owen  mumbled  something  about  not  doing  it, 
and  then  slunk  away.  He  discharged  Andrew 
as  his  fag  the  next  day,  and  never  spoke  to  him 
again,  so  fearful  wras  he  of  trouble.  The  smaller 
boys  generally  did  not  suffer  as  much ;  and,  in 
some  mysterious  way,  it  got  to  be  a  by-word  with 
them  when  Owen  did  anything  to  them,  to  say: 
"  I  will  go  and  tell  Monti  about  it." 

Little  Snape  had  been  ailing  for  some  time 
and  was  out  of  sorts;  now  that  the  winter 
weather  had  set  in  he  seemed  worse,  and,  after  a 
wetting  from  playing  in  the  snow,  had  caught 
a  violent  cold  that  turned  to  fever.  For  many 
weeks  he  lay  ill— too  ill,  indeed,  to  be  removed 
from  the  school.  His  mother  came  down  to 
stay  with  him,  and,  at  last,  nursed  him  back  to 
convalescence. 

One  day,  when  all  the  school  was  ready  for 
dismissal,  the  Head  Master  came  forward  and 
said: 

"  Moses  Montefiore,  come  here.'1 


46  THINK    AND   THANK. 

Moses  came  up  to  the  desk,  frightened  and 
fearing  some  new  trouble. 

The  Head  Master  spoke  to  the  school. 

"  Boys,  I  am  a  harsh  man  sometimes,  but  I 
try  to  be  just.  I  want  to  make  a  correction  and 
an  apology  for  a  mistake.  This  boy,  Moses 
Montefiore,  was  flogged  not  long  ago  for  breaking 
open  the  desk  and  stealing  a  manuscript  of  Pro- 
fessor Heath's.  He  was  entirely  innocent.  He 
bore  like  a  hero  the  flogging  he  got,  rather  than 
tell  on  a  poor  little  fellow,  who  was  led  into  doing 
the  wrong  by  an.  older  head.  The  little  lad  has 
been  near  to  death,  and  has  told  us  what  he  did ; 
but  asked  that  he  be  not  required  to  tell  the  name 
of  the  real  offender.  If  that  boy  is  here  now,  he 
should  hide  his  head  for  shame.  He  is  a  dis- 
honored coward,  and  I  can  only  hope  that  he  will 
leave  us  or  reform  his  ways.  For  Moses  Monte- 
fiore I  have  nothing  but  the  highest  praise ;  and 
I  ask  his  pardon  before  you  all  for  my  mistake. 
He  found  and  returned  the  manuscript  to  Pro- 
fessor Heath,  when,  but  for  his  efforts,  it  might 
have  been  lost  for  ever." 

Professor  Heath  then  came  forward  and  took 
Moses  by  the  hand  and  thanked  him  cordially, 
and  asked  his  pardon  for  the  injuries  done. 


^  v     •« 


A    STORY    OF    A    LION    HUNT.  47 

There  was  a  great  murmur  in  the  school,  and 
Moses  did  not  know  what  he  said  by  way  of 
answer,  for  his  heart  was  too  full  of  excitement 
and  joy. 

When  he  reached  the  school  yard,  there  was 
a  crowd  of  boys  there,  who,  when  they  saw  him, 
called  out : 

"  Three  cheers  for  Moses  Montefiore !" 

And  all  who  were  there  joined  in  the  cry  of 
applause. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
A  STORY  OF  A  LION  HUNT. 

"  Uncle  Josh  has  come  !" 

It  was  Moses'  sister,  Sarah,  who  opened,  the 
door,  one  day,  and  told  him  the  welcome  news. 

Uncle  Josh  was  a  great  favorite  with  his 
nephews  and  nieces.  They  would  climb  on  his 
knees  and  search  through  his  pockets,  and  always 
found  sweetmeats  or  presents  of  some  kind  hidden 
there.  Then,  too,  he  was  full  of  laughter,  and 
had  many  wild  tales  of  adventure  about  days 
spent  in  Africa. 

To-night  he  had  come  in  quite  unexpectedly, 
home  from  his  troops,  on  a  short  furlough. 


48  THINK   AND   THANK. 

When  Moses  entered  the  sitting-room,  his 
uncle  had  drawn  his  chair  before  the  blazing  fire; 
the  light  shone  on  his  brass  buttons  and  red  coat 
with  dazzling  effect  and  lit  up  his  smiling  face, 
tanned,  like  leather,  by  exposure  to  the  sun  and 
storm. 

His  nephew  thought  what  a  fine  soldier  he 
was — brave,  Jiardy  and  frank. 

"And  how  is  my  young  captain  ?"  his  uncle 
cried,  clasping  his  arms  in  his  hands  and  holding 
him  off  that  he  might  look  well  at  him.  "  AVhat 
a  great  boy  you  are  growing  to  be.  You  will  be 
as  big  as  I  am,  soon;  then  you  shall  join  the 
army,  too,  and  come  with  me  to  fight  the  king's 
battles." 

"No,  no;  don't  tell  him  that,"  Rachel  said. 
"  He  is  my  first-born.  I  could  not  let  him  leave 
me.  Beside,  I  think  it  brutal,  the  way  you  kill 
people." 

"  But  I  am  going,  mother,"  Moses  said,  defi- 
antly. "  I  won't  work  at  anything  else,  I  tell  you 
that.  You  know  I  want  to  be  a  soldier,  I  always 
have." 

"  That  is  the  way  to  talk,"  Uncle  Josh  said, 
laughing.  "  You  will  be  a  great  fighter  some 
day." 


A    STORY    OF    A    LION    HUNT.  49 

•'  I  know  Moses  won't  leave  me,  unless  I  wish 
it,"  his  mother  said,  putting  her  hand  lovingly 
on  her  son's  head ;  he,  for  answer,  caught  and 
kissed  it,  and  they  went  into  supper,  her  arm 
about  his  neck. 

"  It  is  time  for  children  to  be  in  bed,"  Rachel 
said,  an  hour  later,  after  the  children  had  romped 
about  the  floor  with  the  soldier  and  had  climbed 
up  on  his  knees  to  rest.  But  he  put  a  great  arm 
about  each  little  girl  and  held  them  both  close 
to  his  heart.  Abraham  sat  on  an  arm  of  his 
chair,  while  Moses  lay  on  the  rug  before  the  lire 
— sometimes  gazing  thoughtfully  at  the  blazing 
logs,  sometimes  into  the  bronzed  face  of  the 
warrior. 

"  We  won't  go  until  we've  had  a  story,"  the 
two  girls  cried,  nestling  closer. 

"  "What  shall  it  be  ?  A  fairy  story,  or  about 
the  ocean,  or  about  wild  beasts,  or  what?" 

"  Tell  us  about  the  island  and  the  savages 
where  you  went  in  the  ship,"  Abraham  said. 

"What  will  you  have,  Moses,"  Uncle  Josh 
asked,  noticing  that  he  said  nothing. 

"  Well,  I  think  about  the  lion  hunt  in  Africa, 
when  you  got  lost  there  in  the  wilderness." 

"  Yes,  uncle,  tell   us  about  lions   and  tigers 


50  THINK    AND   THANK. 

and  how  they  roar,"  Sarah  said,  lisping  her 
words  so  childishly  that  the  hunter  laughed 
and  roared  like  a  lion  so  loudly  that  she  was 
afraid. 

"All  right,  lions  and  tigers  it  shall  be; 
hold  tight  to  me  that  they  may  not  carry  you 
off." 

The  children  huddled  together  closely.  Their 
father  and  mother  sat  at  one  side  of  the  fireplace 
and  were  happy  in  seeing  the  joy  on  the  faces  of 
those  so  dear  to  them.  There  was  no  light  save 
that  of  the  blazing  logs  heaped  high  in  the 
chimney,  and  ghostly  shadows  danced  over  the 
walls  of  the  room. 

"  When  the  colony  on  the  island  broke  up,  we 
sailed  for  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  all  the  people 
are  black,  and  it  is  so  warm  they  only  wear  a  bit 
of  rough  cloth  about  them,  instead  of  regular 
clothing.  Near  to  the  coast  we  found  a  trading 
post  of  just  two  or  three  huts,  built  of  sticks  about 
as  thick  as  my  finger,  stuck  in  the  ground,  with 
the  roofs  of  great  leaves ;  and  there  was  a  fort, 
with  a  high  fence  around  it,  made  out  of  large 
bamboo  trees. 

"  The  traders  were  Englishmen,  who  gave 
cheap  knives,  beads  and  bits  of  cloth,  and  such 


A    STORY    OF    A    LION    HUNT.  51 

things,  for  ivory.  With  them  they  had  a  black 
man,  who  could  understand  both  English  and 
the  gibberish. 

"  When  we  reached  there,  the  traders  were 
organizing  a  party  to  go  up  the  great,  broad  river 
into  the  interior  to  get  ivory,  for  they  had  heard 
of  a  king,  far  away,  who  had  a  hundred  elephant 
tusks  of  great  size  and  value.  Jack  Deane,  Bill 
Hook,  Tom  Brady  and  myself,  of  our  party, 
volunteered  to  go  with  them.  We  wanted  to  see 
the  country,  and  the  traders  were  glad  enough  to 
have  us.  There  was  danger  in  travelling ;  and 
with  our  muskets,  pistols  and  cutlasses,  we  were 
a  great  addition  to  their  forces. 

"  There  were  three  boats — two  large  ones, 
made  out  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  a  canoe, 
made  of  hides  and  bark,  in  which  my  men  and 
I  went  by  ourselves.  We  had  a  lug  sail  that  we 
rigged,  whenever  the  wind  was  favorable,  and  it 
saved  us  much  hard  work  with  the  oars. 

"  You  would  have  liked  it,  Moses.  Monster 
alligators  lay  in  the  mud  on  the  banks,  or  swam 
about  like  floating  logs.  We  fired  at  them  many 
times,  but  the  bullets  glanced  off  their  thick- 
hides. 

"  Once  a  huge  fellow  ran  his  back  against  our 


52  THINK   AND   THANK. 

boat,  and  almost  upset  it.  He  passed  by,  turned 
and  was  about  to  attack  us  again,  when  Tom 
placed  his  gun  close  to  his  eye  and  fired.  There 
was  a  wild  splashing  of  water,  as  the  great  tail 
lashed  the  waves,  and  our  canoe  rocked  so  that 
we  had  to  hold  on  to  the  seats  to  avoid  being 
thrown  out.  Then  the  smoke  cleared  away,  and 
we  saw  the  beast  sink  slowly  out  of  sight.  He 
wras  certainly  dead. 

"  Beautiful  cranes  flew  up  from  the  high  reeds, 
as  we  passed  by ;  in  the  woods,  along  the  shores, 
innumerable  parrots  chattered,  and  monkeys 
swung  themselves  down  from  limb  to  limb,  to 
gaze  gravely  at  the  intruders.  Once  a  drove  of 
deer  stood  quite  near  in  the  water  by  the  bank, 
and  looked  at  us  with  such  trusting  eyes  that  I 
would  not  let  my  men  shoot  at  them. 

"  At  nights  we  encamped  in  such  dry  spots  as 
we  could  find.  We  carried  the  three  boats  on 
shore,  and  made  a  sort  of  fortress  or  barricade. 
Outside  of  this  we  built  a  ring  of  fire,  that  the 
sentries  kept  blazing  all  night.  We  could  hear 
the  crashing  of  the  undergrowth  oftentimes,  and 
howls  of  animals.  Great  eyes  would  be  seen 
glaring  out  of  the  blackness,  but  they  made  no 
open  attack  on  us;  the  fire  kept  them  off. 


A    STORY   OF    A    LION   HUNT.  53 

"The  stream  gradually  grew  narrower,  and 
the  current  was  sometimes  so  swift  that  three  men 
had  to  row  to  force  the  boat  ahead.  The  banks, 
in  places,  were  almost  free  from  trees  or  bushes, 
and  we  could  catch  glimpses  of  plains  and  forests 
beyond. 

"At  last,  our  black  guide  told  us  that  on  the 
morrow  we  should  certainly  reach  the  land  of 
King  Teecoo,  to  which  we  were  bound. 

"  The  next  day  was  long  and  hot,  but  towards 
sun-down  we  came  in  sight  of  a  few  huts  on  the 
shore ;  then  men  were  seen  waving  their  hands 
to  us  from  a  kind  of  wharf  built  out  in  the 
stream. 

"  Upon  our  arrival,  after  some  talk  between 
them  and  our  interpreter,  we  were  escorted  to  the 
king's  palace,  in  the  midst  of  a  village.  His  hut 
was  much  larger  than  the  others,  and  around  it 
guards  with  long  spears,  stalked  slowly  and 
gravely  up  and  down. 

"  This  was  a  very  savage  tribe,  and  only  the 
prospects  of  a  great  trade  with  the  king  could 
have  induced  us  to  take  the  risk  of  a  visit. 
We  had  instructed  the  interpreter  that  he  was 
to  say  nothing  of  our  fire-arms.  These  savages 
did  not  know  what  they  were,  and  we  wanted 


54  THINK    AND    THANK. 

to  surprise  them.  There  must  have  been  a  thou- 
sand of  them  about  the  building,  and,  as  we  stood 
at  the  palace  door,  they  crowded  around,  and  exam- 
ined us  and  our  belongings  with  great  curiosity. 
Presently  the  king's  head  man  came  out,  and  see- 
ing the  crowd,  flew  into  a  violent  passion,  and 
poured  forth  a  torrent  of  words.  I  don't  know 
what  he  said  to  them,  but  they  fled  away  in  great 
haste. 

"  We  were  then  led  into  a  great  empty-looking 
hall.  The  king  sat  on  a  platform,  with  a  dozen 
guards  about  him.  Our  interpreter  had  a  short 
consultation  with  him,  the  result  of  which  was, 
that  we  were  all  put  under  guard,  in  a  separate 
hut.  Some  fruit  and  raw  meat  were  brought  to  us, 
and  there  we  stayed  until  the  following  morning. 

"  We  learned  that  King  Teecoo  had  not  said 
what  would  be  done,  nor  made  mention  of  our 
being  put  in  prison ;  but  there  we  were,  and  what 
to  do  we  did  not  know.  We  held  many  consulta- 
tions, but  could  not  decide  on  any  plan.  It  was 
useless  to  attempt  to  escape  in  the  face  of  the  diffi- 
culties about  us. 

"In  the  morning  we  were  all  again  taken 
before  King  Teecoo. 

"This  time   he  was   surrounded  by  hag-like 


A    STORY    OF    A    LION    HUNT.  55 

witches — old  shrivelled  women,  with  long  finger 
nails  and  white  hair,  in  startling  contrast  to  their 
black  faces,  who  crouched  and  moaned  and  mum- 
bled wildly  to  themselves.  Our  interpreter  was 
called  up  before  his  High  Mightiness. 

"  We  watched  the  proceedings  with  great  curi- 
osity. We  could  not  understand,  even  from  the 
actions,  what  was  going  on.  The  king  talked, 
the  interpreter  talked,  and  the  witches  kept  up 
their  cries. 

"At  last  the  interpreter  came  among  us  again. 

"  '  The  upshot  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  there 
is  a  large  lion,  that  lurks  somewhere  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  village,  that  has  killed  a  great  many 
of  the  king's  subjects.  This  beast  is  such  a  scourge 
that  he  is  looked  upon  as  a  god,  and  when  the 
witches  were  consulted  yesterday,  as  to  Avhat  was 
to  be  done  with  us,  they  decided  that  we  must  be 
offered  to  the  lion,  one  by  one,  as  sacrifices,  to 
appease  his  wrath/ 

"We  had  another  consultation. 

"  '  Let's  tell  the  king  there  is  but  one  favor  we 
ask  ?'  I  said ;  *  that  we  be  allowed  to  go  into  the 
bush  without  being  bound,  and  that  our  arms 
shall  not  be  taken  away.'  We  called  our  guns 
walking  sticks. 


56  THINK    AND   THANK. 

"There  was  a  grim  kind  of  smile  on  his 
majesty's  face  as  he  granted  the  request.  To-night, 
he  said,  the  offerings  must  be  begun,  and  we 
could  decide  among  ourselves  who  should  go  first. 

"This  question  we  settled  by  putting  as  many 
grains  of  rice  in  a  hat  as  there  were  white  men  in 
our  party.  One  grain  was  colored  red.  The  man 
drawing  this  was  to  go  out  that  night  and  meet 
the  lion. 

"  One,  two,  three,  four,  five  grains  were  drawn, 
all  white,  and  it  was  my  turn.  I  put  my  hand  in 
the  hat,  grasped  a  grain  and  drew  it  out. 

"  It  was  red. 

"  That  night  I  was  led  forth  to  the  outskirts 
of  the  town.  Bill  Hook  had  loaned  me  his  two 
horse-pistols;  I  had  two  of  my  own  and  my 
musket,  in  addition.  The  natives  pointed  to  a 
beaten  track  running  into  the  jungle.  It  would 
have  been  death  on  their  spears  to  have  refused 
to  go  on,  so  I  grasped  my  gun  firmly  and  left 
them. 

"  Fortunately,  it  was  a  clear  night,  and  the 
African  moon,  at  its  full,  was  overhead.  No  one 
can  know  the  whiteness  of  that  light — it  was  like 
a  ball  of  silvery  fire.  The  path  was  open,  at  first, 
but  soon  became  overgrown  and  dense  with  under- 


A   STORY    OF   A   LION   HUNT.  57 

growth.  I  determined,  as  soon  as  I  got  out  of 
hearing  of  the  blacks,  to  find  a  safe  spot,  near  the 
path,  and  wait  for  the  lion  to  pass  me.  I,  at  last, 
discovered  a  hillock,  covered  with  long  grass, 
elevated  two  or  three  feet  above  the  surrounding 
land. 

"  On  this  I  made  my  bed  for  the  night. 

"  For  a  long  time  I  kept  a  watchful  eye  on 
every  bush ;  my  ears  strained  to  catch  a  sound  of 
intrusion.  There  were  noises  of  a  thousand  kinds, 
near  by  and  far  away.  I  could  hear  the  cry  of 
birds,  flying  over  or  chattering  in  the  thicket; 
African  beetles  droned  about  me  and  crickets 
chirruped  in  the  grass.  A  huge  death-watch 
ticked  loudly  at  my  feet. 

"  I  was  conscious,  at  last,  that  the  heavy  sum- 
mer air  and  the  fatigue  that  I  had  been  under, 
were  making  me  drowsy. 

"  From  my  doze  I  was  quickly  awakened  by 
a  crackling  of  the  underbrush.  I  seized  my 
gun,  which  lay  beside  me,  and  looked  in  the 
direction  of  the  noise.  Some  huge  beast  was 
coming  up  the  pathway,  as  yet  in  dense  shadow. 
I  could  hear  the  sound  of  his  breath  and  quick, 
angry  snorts. 

"  It  was  not  until  he  was  within  a  few  feet  of 


58  THINK   AND   THANK. 

me  that  he  passed  out  of  the  bushes  and  into  the 
open  glade.  The  moon  shone  full  upon  him. 
He  stood  without  motion,  save  the  nervous  lash- 
ing to  and  fro  of  his  tail.  There  was  a  yellowish 
mass  of  mane  and  a  body  larger  than  I  had  ever 
dreamed  of.  He  looked  straight  towards  me.  I 
was  crouched  in  the  midst  of  the  reeds,  where  he 
must  have  scented  me  out. 

"  My  hand  shook  as  I  lifted  and  cocked  the 
gun.  Should  it  miss  fire,  I  felt  certain  I  was  a 
dead  man.  I  raised  the  musket  stealthily  and 
aimed.  The  only  visible  target,  now,  was  his 
head,  and  I  felt  that  any  ball  would  have  glanced 
harmlessly  from  that  skull.  In  one  of  my  pistols 
was  a  great  charge  of  slugs.  At  this  short  range 
I  might  blind  him.  I  quietly  drew  the  weapon 
from  the  holster.  At  this  moment  I  saw  the  lion 
suddenly  crouch,  and,  knowing  he  was  about  to 
spring,  fired. 

"  There  was  a  tearing  and  rending  of  the 
underbrush,  mingled  with  cries  and  roars  and 
mewing  of  the  great  cat  in  pain.  Gradually  all 
sounds  ceased,  and  I  felt  that  the  danger  had 
passed  for  the  moment. 

"  Nervously  and  fearfully  I  awaited  the  dawn. 
At  the  first  faint  streak  of  light  in  the  sky,  I 


A    STORY    OF    A    LION    HUNT.  59 

started  down  the  path  for  the  village.  I  had  not 
gone  far,  when  I  heard  a  sound  ahead  of  me. 
I  stepped  to  one  side  and  waited. 

"  There  was  a  roar,  then  the  crying  of  the  lion, 
and  I  knew  the  beast  was  about  to  pass  me  again. 
He  came  creeping  along  the  path  from  the  village, 
stopping  every  now  and  then  to  put  his  paw  up 
to  one  of  his  eyes,  which  I  could  see  was  entirely 
shot  away.  Nearer  and  nearer  he  came,  until  at 
last  he  saw  me.  The  cry  of  rage,  a  mingling  of 
a  scream  of  anger  and  a  roar,  was  awful.  I  raised 
my  musket,  although  I  determined  not  to  fire 
until  he  was  almost  on  me. 

"  Nearer  he  drew,  stopping  now  and  then  to 
wipe  with  his  soft  paw  the  blood  from  his  eye. 
This  gave  me  a  fair  shot  behind  his  foreshoulder. 
In  my  anxiety  and  haste  I  shot  to  the  left  and 
only  broke  his  leg.  He  rushed  at  me  on  three 
legs,  no  longer  able  to  spring.  When  almost  at 
my  feet,  I  fired  one  of  the  pistols  full  in  his  face. 
He  rolled  over,  and  after  a  few  feeble  struggles 
lay  still. 

"A  party  of  the  natives  soon  after  came  out  to 
search  for  me,  expecting  to  find  only  my  bones. 
Together  we  made  a  litter  of  young  saplings,  and 
carried  the  huge  animal  to  the  village. 


60  THINK    AND   THANK. 

"  When  we  were  gathered  before  the  king,  he 
punched  the  lion  with  his  fingers  to  see  that  he 
was  quite  dead,  and  asked  how  it  had  happened. 
They  all  pointed  to  me,  and  I  stepped  forward. 
We  were  outside  the  palace,  in  a  sort  of  a  public 
square.  I  determined  to  let  the  king  see  what  a 
wonderful  man  I  was.  My  musket  was  loaded 
with  a  charge  of  slugs,  and  flying  towards  us  was 
a  huge  crane,  very  low  down.  He  must  have 
been  six  or  seven  feet  across  the  wings,  and 
offered  an  easy  mark.  When  he  got  overhead,  I 
raised  my  gun  and  fired.  The  bird  fell  at  my 
feet.  At  the  discharge,  the  king  and  his  followers 
prostrated  themselves,  their  faces  to  the  ground, 
their  arms  spread  out  in  front  of  them. 

" '  Tell  him  there  is  no  danger,'  I  said  to  the 
interpreter.  *  Say  we  only  hurt  our  enemies, 
and  that  those  who  are  our  friends  the  fire-king 
protects. 

"And  so  his  majesty  was  conquered  and 
treated  us  well,  and  we  became  great  friends  with 
the  natives,  and  took  away  with  us  enough  ivory 
to  make  our  fortunes." 

Esther  lay  fast  asleep  in  the  soldier's  arms'; 
Sarah  blinked  dreamily.  After  their  mother 


THE    SNOW- FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  61 

had  taken  them  off  to  bed,  Moses'  father  and  his 
Uncle  Josh  talked  together  for  many  hours,  while 
he  lay  on  the  rug,  and  their  words  came  to  him 
drowsily,  as  from  far  away.  He  dreamed  of 
strange  adventures  in  strange  lands,  where  there 
were  black  men,  and  yellow  and  red  cranes,  and 
he  and  Uncle  Josh  floated  down  a  great  river  in  a 
boat,  and  shot  alligators.  And  then  Moses,  too, 
was  fast  asleep. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  SNOW-FIGHT  AT  KINGS  COMMON. 

Moses,  Noel  Hilton  and  Isaac  Goldsmid  were 
tramping  home  from  school,  one  day  in  mid- 
winter. About  noon  the  flakes  had  begun  to  drift 
slowly  down,  and,  now,  the  snow  was  quite  deep. 
It  was  growing  colder  and  the  wind  blew  sharply. 
The  storm  had  set  in  for  all  night.  Winter  was 
in  the  air  everywhere. 

Of  late,  life  at  school  had  changed  for  the 
better  for  Moses  and  his  friends.  They  were 
treated  like  the  other  boys,  now,  both  by  comrades 
and  masters.  They  were  taken  into  the  sports, 
and  Moses,  from  his  strength  and  skill,  gradually 
came  to  the  front  in  the  various  games  that  were 


62  THINK    AND   THANK. 

gotten  up.  There  was  something  about  him  that 
made  him  a  leader  among  his  fellows. 

"  To-morrow,  we  must  have  some  fun,  if  this 
keeps  up,"  he  said,  as  they  plowed  through  a  drift 
at  the  corner  of  the  street.  "We  will  have  a 
battle  with  the  town-boys  out  at  Kings  Common. 
If  it  only  drifts  deep  enough  to-night  we  will 
build  a  fort  there." 

"  It  is  a  half  holiday,  too,"  said  Isaac.  "  We 
can  get  a  great  crowd  together  and  have  a  regular 
war." 

"We  will  fix  it  up  at  recess  to-morrow,  and 
arrange  the  whole  thing." 

That  night  Moses  got  out  an  old  book  of  his 
uncle's,  on  military  tactics,  and  studied  the  best 
way  of  massing  troops  in  victory  and  defeat. 
Isaac  stayed  with  him  all  night.  At  ten  o'clock, 
when  they  went  to  bed,  Moses  scraped  the  frost  off 
the  window  pane  and  looked  out. 

"Still  snowing,  like  everything,"  he  said;  "it 
will  be  three  feet  deep  to-morrow." 

And  such  a  storm  as  it  was!  The  next  morn- 
ing the  oldest  inhabitant  looked  out  in  wonder. 
Snow  everywhere — drifted  in  some  places  above 
the  windows  of  the  first  stories  of  the  houses.  It 
was  some  time  before  the  streets  became  passable. 


THE   SNOW-FIGHT   AT   KINGS    COMMON.  63 

The  boys  did  not  reach  school  until  after  the 
opening  hour.  The  drifts  were  high  and  the 
walking  difficult,  but  they  plunged  on,  laughing, 
and  threw  handfuls  of  the  snow  at  each  other,  and 
the  way  did  not  seem  long.  The  clouds  were 
breaking  away.  It  was  just  cold  enough  to  be 
inspiriting. 

After  the  school  had  assembled,  the  Head 
Master  called  for  attention. 

"In  view  of  the  most  unprecedented  fall  of 
snow  to-day,  we  shall  dismiss  the  school  at  noon, 
instead  of  one  o'clock." 

When  the  boys  were  free,  what  shouting  there 
was,  as  they  rushed  into  the  yard,  piled,  in 
places,  many  feet  high  with  snow. 

Our  three  boys  got  some  of  the  larger  fellows 
together,  and  told  them  of  their  idea  about  the 
snow-fight.  John  Hornby,  William  Day,  Robert 
Johnson,  Joe  Harris,  Richard  Doughty  and 
George  Owen  were  among  the  active  ones.  There 
were  no  longer  any  open  hostilities  between  the 
latter  two  fellows  and  Moses  and  his  friends. 
Owen  was  always  a  ready  boy  in  any  sport,  and 
Moses  and  he  were  thrown  together  often.  A 
crowd  soon  collected  about  them,  and  all  wanted 
to  talk  at  once,  each  with  a  different  plan.  The 


64  THINK    AND   THANK. 

uproar  was  great.  All  were  willing  for  the  fight, 
but  they  could  not  agree  among  themselves. 

Moses  got  up  on  a  box  and  spoke  to  them.  At 
first  they  would  not  listen. 

"  Hold  your  noise,"  Noel  screamed.  "  Let's 
hear  from  one  at  a  time.  Go  on,  Moses." 

"  My  plan,"  Moses  said,  "  is  to  go  out  to  Kings 
Common  and  build  a  big  fort,  make  a  lot  of  snow 
balls,  and  then  when  the  boys  get  out  of  the  mill 
they  will  give  us  a  battle.  It  will  be  a  grand  row; 
much  more  fun  than  fighting  among  ourselves." 

This  plan  was  agreed  to,  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
The  boys  dispersed  to  get  shovels  and  loose  boards 
with  which  to  throw  up  their  fortifications,  and 
boxes  to  make  the  snow  into  bricks. 

When  they  reached  the  Common,  which  was 
not  far  from  the  school,  they  found  it  was  in 
capital  condition.  Against  the  high  wall,  at  the 
back,  the  snow  had  drifted,  until  it  was  quite  cov- 
ered ;  while  a  large  part  of  the  ground  in  front 
was  swept  bare  by  the  high  wind.  .  It  only  needed 
their  efforts  for  an  hour  or  two  to  make  the  place 
into  a  field  of  battle. 

"  Let's  make  a  square  fort."  "  No,  a  round  frv* 
is  better." 

There  were  many  views.     Moses  had  drawn 


THE    SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  65 

his  plan  of  the  fortification  on  a  sheet  of  paper. 
It  was  like  this: 


SIDE  FORT. 


The  boys  crowded  about  him  to  see  it. 

"  You  see,"  Moses  said,  "  a  triangular  fort  like 
this  is  best,  because  the  attacking  party  can't 
climb  over  the  walls  so  easily ;  not  able  to  get  at 
them  fairly.  Then  we  can  protect  the  whole 
range  of  walls  easier  in  this  shape,  and  we  can 
have  an  entrance  at  either  side,  so  we  can  sally 
out  and  pursue  the  enemy.  These  smaller  forts, 
on  each  side,  are  the  places  where  the  sharp- 
shooters are  placed  to  protect  the  entrances,  and 
where  the  boys  can  stand  who  are  to  go  out  after 
the  enemy  to  repulse  them  from  the  walls  and 
take  prisoners." 

It  seemed  a  good  plan  to  the  others,  and  was 
agreed  on,  at  once,  no  one  else  having  anything 
definite  to  offer.  Moses  had  explained  the  whole 
idea  to  Noel  and  Isaac,  and,  together,  they  laid  off 
the  distances.  There  were  so  many  boys,  that 

5 


66  THINK    AND   THANK. 

when  they  were  all  put  at  work,  properly,  they 
carried  out  the  plans  in  a  very  short  time. 

The  result  gave  them  the  wildest  pleasure.  It 
was  better  than  they  had  expected.  It  was  like  a 
regular  fort.  The  snow  had  been  beaten  into 
boxes  about  two  feet  square,  and  the  blocks  piled 
up  on  one  another.  This  made  a  wall  of  snow 
that  would  resist  a  severe  attack. 

"  We  must  have  a  supply  of  snow  balls," 
Moses  said ;  "  four  or  five  hundred  will  not  be  too 
many." 

By  four  o'clock  everything  about  the  fort  was 
in  readiness  for  the  attack. 

All  told,  the  school-boys  numbered  nearly 
fifty.  Many  of  the  smaller  boys  were  ruled  out 
as  being  below  the  age  of  recruits. 

The  army  gathered  within  the  walls  of  the 
fort. 

"  We  must  have  a  eommander-m-chief,"  Noel 
said. 

Then  a  wild  discussion  took  place.  There 
were  various  favorites.  Finally,  the  choice  of  a 
leader  fell  on  John  Hornby.  He  was  the  largest 
and  strongest  boy  at  the  school,  and  as  he  was 
preparing  himself  for  the  army,  was  supposed 
to  have  some  knowledge  of  warfare.  He  was  a 


THE    SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  67 

manly,  determined  fellow ;  but  lacked  quickness 
and  judgment.  Noel,  and  one  or  two  others, 
made  a  fight  for  Moses  for  the  place,  but  it  was 
without  avail.  The  boys  admitted  that  the  fort 
was  well  planned,  but  they  did  not  care  for  Moses 
to  lead  them.  In  deference  to  his  followers,  how- 
ever, Hornby  made  him  captain  of  one  of  the 
smaller  forts. 

In  a  short  time  the  town-boys  began  to  gather. 
They  were  led  by  a  boy  named  Machin.  Con- 
sultation was  held  between  the  leaders,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  if  twelve  men  of  the  attacking 
party  got  within  the  walls  of  the  fort,  the  victory 
was  to  be  considered  won  and  hostilities  were  to 
cease  for  the  time;  the  capturing  party  to  hold 
the  fort  until  it  was  retaken. 

The  armies  were  about  equal  in  number,  but 
the  town-boys  were  larger  and  stronger  and  more 
reckless. 

"  They  will  beat  us,  if  it  comes  down  to  a 
simple  matter  of  brute  strength.  It  will  take 
science  to  hold  this  place  against  those  fellows." 

It  was  Isaac  who  spoke  to  Moses.  He  was  his 
lieutenant  in  the  side  fort. 

Presently  his  words  were  shown  to  be  true. 
The  engagement  that  followed  "  was  short  and 


68  THINK    AND    THANK. 

sharp.  The  town-boys  made  a  united  attack  at 
one  of  the  entrances.  Hornby,  supported  by 
Doughty,  Owen  and  Harris,  fought  manfully  and 
hurled  the  invaders  back,  in  a  hand  to  hand 
conflict;  but  the  enemy  was  too  strong;  the  school- 
boys were  beaten  and  the  fort  captured  in  a 
five  minutes  fight. 

For  that  afternoon  the  sport  was  over.  The 
town-boys  were  well  pleased,  and  said  they  would 
be  ready,  the  following  afternoon,  to  defend  their 
capture  against  all  attacks. 

At  recess,  the  next  day,  a  great  discussion 
took  place,  as  to  who  should  lead  the  school  forces 
in  the  attack  on  the  fort  that  afternoon. 

"  Moses  planned  that  fort,  and  it  is  a  good  one. 
I  say  we  make  him  our  captain  this  afternoon," 
Noel  said. 

Richard  Doughty  and  George  Owen  were  both 
anxious  for  the  honor,  but  they  were  not  popular 
with  the  others.  After  a  fierce  contest  and  debate, 
the  question  was  put  to  a  vote  and  Moses  received 
a  large  majority. 

He  at  once  appointed  Noel  Hilton  com- 
mander of  the  right  wing,  Isaac  Goldsmid  of  the 
left,  and  John  Hornby  as  his  first  officer,  in  the 
main  body.  Doughty  and  Owen  were  both  given 


THE    SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS   COMMON.  69 

important  places.  They  were  good  fighters,  and 
Moses  was  too  brave  not  to  be  honest. 

A  spy  from  the  enemy's  camp  reported  that 
they  had  soaked  the  walls  of  the  fort  with  water, 
and  it  was  now  frozen  hard.  Also  that  they  had 
made  a  large  quantity  of  frozen  ammunition. 
There  was  danger  in  the  air. 

At  the  second  recess,  the  boys  were  all  em- 
ployed in  soaking  snow-balls  and  laying  them 
out  to  freeze.  They  felt  they  must  be  prepared  to 
meet  the  enemy  on  equal  terms. 

When  school  was  dismissed  there  was  wild 
excitement.  All  the  school-bags  and  baskets 
were  'brought  into  use  to  carry  the  ammunition 
to  the  field  of  battle. 

Moses  carefully  arranged  the  plans  of  cam- 
paign with  his  officers.  He  addressed  the  army 
and  begged  them  to  follow  their  leaders,  not  to 
fight  wildly ;  and,  above  all,  never  to  know 
when  they  were  beaten.  The  honor  of  the  whole 
school,  he  said,  depended  on  their  winning  this 
battle.  None  of  the  frozen  balls  were  to  be  used, 
unless  the  town-boys  first  began  with  that  kind 
of  ammunition. 

The  enemy  soon  assembled  and  occupied  the 
fort  in  great  numbers. 


70  THINK    AND    THANK. 

Moses  was  everywhere,  among  the  attacking 
army,  giving  directions  and  showing  the  boys 
that  it  must  be  a  matter  of  science  if  the  fort  was 
to  be  recovered. 

Back  of  the  wall,  in  front  of  which  the  fort 
was  built,  was  a  large  factory  yard.  Moses  had 
examined  this,  and  found  it  quite  free  from  snow. 
There  was  a  shed  built  against  the  wall,  on  that 
side,  and  it  was  easy  to  climb  up  on  it  and  look 
over  into  the  fort.  A  tall,  slow  fellow,  Roger 
Clerk,  with  four  other  boys,  was  detailed  to  lie  in 
wait  in  this  yard,  and,  when  summoned,  to  climb 
on  the  shed  and  pour  cold  shot  into  the  fort.  All 
this  was  secretly  arranged,  Moses  being  the  only 
one  who  knew  of  it,  outside  of  those  taking  part. 

A  large  beam  of  wood  was  secured,  and  three 
boys  were  appointed  to  use  it  as  a  battering  ram 
on  the  main  wall. 

At  last  all  was  in  readiness. 

A  red  handkerchief  was  raised  from  the  fort 
— the  signal  that  the  engagement  was  to  begin. 

The  town-boys  had  received  re-enforcements. 
The  walls  were  black  with  them.  It  was  a 
formidable  task  to  attack  them.  Moses  knew  that 
unless  skill  was  used  they  could  never  hope  to 
regain  the  lost  fort. 


THE    SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  71 

The  invaders  advanced  in  an  unbroken 
line  to  the  left  of  the  fort.  They  were  greeted 
with  a  volley  of  snow  balls,  even  before  they  were 
fairly  within  range.  But  few  were  returned — 
only  enough  to  make  the  appearance  of  a  fight. 
Nearer  and  nearer  they  approached,  while  the 
firing  was  incessant.  Then  a  retreat  was  sounded, 
and  they  withdrew  out  of  reach.  Again  and 
again  this  was  repeated.  Three  men  of  the 
attacking  party  were  disabled,  and  a  number 
wounded,  but  only  enough  to  make  them  angry. 

The  third  time  they  were  withdrawn;  there 
were  loud  complaints  from  several  boys. 

"Keep  quiet,"  Noel  said.  " Don't  you  see  we 
are  playing  them  out  of  ammunition?  When 
our  time  comes,  we  will  have  a  big  advantage, 
for  they  haven't  much  extra  snow  in  the  fort." 

The  battle  now  began  in  earnest. 

The  main  army,  led  by  Moses,  made  a  united 
assault  on  the  left  entrance.  Noel,  with  a  detach- 
ment, was  appointed  to  attack  the  side  fort,  in 
order  to  occupy  the  sharp-shooters  and  save  their 
cross-fire  on  the  others.  Isaac  was  in  charge  of  a 
corps,  whose  duty  it  was  to  cover  the  boys  who 
worked  the  ram,  from  the  fire  from  the  main  fort 
and  the  side  fort  on  the  right  entrance.  The  ram 


72  THINK    AND    THANK. 

was  to  be  used  against  the  wall  near  the  head  of 
the  fort  on  the  right. 

With  wild  cries,  the  main  body  approached  the 
fort  and  strove  for  entrance  on  the  left.  The  air 
was  white  with  snow  balls.  Again  and  again,  the 
boys  tried  to  scale  the  walls,  but  they  were  ice- 
no  foothold  could  be  gained.  At  the  entrance,  a 
strong  body  of  troops  beat  off  the  invaders'  fierce 
attack,  and  captured  two  prisoners.  Noel,  indeed, 
with  his  corps  gave  the  side  fort  all  it  could  do  to 
avoid  capture,  and  the  main  army  was  free  to 
attack  without  cross-fire. 

The  battle  was  fierce.  Neither  side  could  gain 
an  advantage.  But  the  intrenchments  the  in- 
vaders had  built  so  strong  on  the  day  before  were 
now  the  great  obstacle  against  them. 

Moses  was  in  the  midst  of  the  fight.  One  eye 
was  almost  blinded  by  a  ball  that  struck  him,  but 
he  encouraged  the  boys  and  cheered  them  on  with 
cries,  in  spite  of  the  pain  he  suffered.  If  the 
victory  was  to  depend  on  his  attack  at  the  left, 
however,  he  felt  they  were  beaten.  He  wondered 
what  Isaac  and  the  battering-ram  were  doing,  and 
whether  it  was  time  to  summon  his  re-enforce- 
ments. He  had  appointed  a  small  boy  as  his  aid, 
to  wait  on  the  Common,  where  he  could  see  the 


THE   SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  73 

effect  of  Isaac's  attack  and  report  to  him.  He 
now  saw  this  boy  running  towards  him. 

The  attack  by  the  main  body  had  been  so 
fierce  that  it  needed  all  the  strength  of  the  men 
in  the  fort  to  beat  them  off,  and  while  the 
troops  under  Isaac  had  been  seen  in  the  begin- 
ning, yet  their  purpose  was  not  fully  known,  and 
they  were  left  to  the  attention  of  the  side  fort.  Not 
until  it  was  too  late  was  the  mistake  discovered. 

Three  strong  boys,  with  a  huge  beam  of  wood, 
rushed  at  the  main  fort  near  its  point.  They  were 
too  far  away  from  the  side  fort  to  be  very  much 
hurt  by  its  fire,  and  Isaac's  men  kept  all  their 
assailants  well  occupied. 

Bang !  bang !  bang !  the  icy  covering  gave 
way— a  hole;  two  or  three  more  strokes  of  the 
ram  and  the  wall  would  be  down.  A  frozen  ball 
struck  one  of  the  invaders  in  the  head,  and  he 
fell  as  if  shot. 

"  No  matter,  once  more,  lads,  with  all  your 
might." 

It  was  Isaac  who  took  the  vacant  place. 
Crash !  the  wall  gave  way.  One  more  stroke 
and  it  was  down  for  some  two  or  three  feet.  The 
boys  dropped  the  beam  and,  taking  their  fallen 
comrade,  retreated  to  a  safe  distance. 


74  THINK    AND   THANK. 

This  breach  in  the  wall  was  announced  to 
Moses  by  his  aid.  He  gave  three  long  whistles 
with  his  fingers ;  in  a  moment,  the  five  boys  who 
had  been  concealed  in  the  factory  yard  appeared 
on  the  wall  at  the  back.  They  were  overstocked 
with  ammunition  and  fresh  for  the  fight.  They 
poured  a  raking  cross-fire  into  the  fort,  and, 
under  cover  of  this,  Moses,  with  a  detachment  of 
men,  re-enforced  Isaac,  and  attacked  the  enemy's 
right  once  more. 

In  the  fort  the  soft  snow  had  given  out,  and 
solid  balls  of  ice  flew  in  the  air.  It  was  danger- 
ous. It  needed  no  command  now  to  the  invaders 
to  return  these  deadly  missiles.  Wounded  men 
were  everywhere.  Boys  limped  about  the  field 
or  held  their  heads;  some  lay  on  the  ground 
groaning.  But  the  excitement  was  so  intense 
that  no  one  thought  of  pain  or  danger. 

The  terrific  assault  with  frozen  balls  from  the 
boys,  high  on  the  shed  over  the  works,  was  doing 
deadly  destruction — the  walls  of  the  fort  were  left 
unguarded.  Moses  sent  his  aid  to  Noel  to  tell 
him  to  make  a  united  attack  on  the  right,  while 
he  entered  the  breach  in  the  wall  with  his  men. 

The  invaders  displayed  new  vigor.  At  the 
left  entrance  there  was  a  hand  to  hand  conflict 


THE    SNOW-FIGHT    AT    KINGS    COMMON.  /O 

going  on.  Joe  Harris  was  rolling  over  and  over 
in  a  terrible  wrestling  match  with  Tim  Machin, 
while  Doughty  and  Owen  together  were  beating 
the  front  ranks  back  with  great  bravery. 

The  odds  wrere  now  against  the  town-boys.  One 
after  another  gave  up  to  nurse  the  wounds  made 
by  the  fire  from  the  boys  on  the  shed,  and  the 
attacking  party  drove  their  enemies  back  into  the 
fort.  At  the  same  moment  Moses  entered  the 
break  in  the  walls  made  by  the  battering-ram. 
He  sprang  to  the  top  and  raised  a  white  handker- 
chief. It  was  a  signal  of  a  victory  and  a  truce ; 
but  so  fierce  was  the  contest  that  it  was  some  time 
before  the  fighting  could  be  stopped.  There  were 
so  many  wounded,  however,  that  both  armies  were 
finally  glad  for  a  chance  to  rest. 

The  damage  had  been  great.  Moses  had  his 
cheek  cut  open ;  one  of  his  eyes  wras  quite  closed 
and  he  was  bruised  in  many  places.  One  boy 
had  broken  his  arm,  while  red  spots  on  the  snow, 
here  and  there,  told  of  noses  that  had  bled  from 
the  battle. 

But  the  school-boys  had  won. 

The  next  day,  when  school  assembled,  there 
were  but  two  or  three  missing  at  the  roll-call; 
but  the  class  was  like  an  army  of  veterans.  Many 


76  THINK    AND   THANK. 

limped  painfully;  bruises  were  on  numerous 
faces,  and  great  strips  of  plaster  decorated  the 
countenances  of  several  boys. 

The  Master  announced  with  a  smile  that  no 
more  snow  ball  fights  must  take  place.  The 
owner  of  the  factory  back  of  the  wall,  annoyed 
by  the  uproar,  had  the  fort  torn  down  that  day 
and  all  chances  of  renewing  the  battle  at  Kings 
Common  were  done  away  with.  But  for  many 
months  were  the  doings  of  that  campaign  talked 
over. 

"  You  ought  to  have  been  with  us  when  we 
took  the  fort  from  the  town-boys  at  Kings 
Common." 


CHAPTER   IX. 
A  SWIMMING  MATCH. 

Two  years  at  school. 

Moses  had  taken  a  mercantile  course,  and 
graduated  with  honors.  The  term  had  ended. 
When  summer  was  over,  he  was  to  go  into  John- 
son's provision  house,  to  learn  business  ways  and 
fit  himself  for  a  tradesman  or  merchant. 

He  looked  back  on  the  days  past  with  mingled 
pleasure  and  regret.  Life  at  school,  at  first,  had 


A    SWIMMING    MATCH.  77 

been  nothing  save  sorrow ;  but  now,  at  leaving, 
all  was  changed.  He  had  many  friends  among 
those  who  had  formerly  scoffed  at  him.  It  was 
like  tearing  himself  away  from  a  battle-field, 
where  he  had  won  a  victory.  He  had  the  feeling 
of  satisfaction  in  his  heart  of  having  done  some- 
thing for  himself  and  others — of  having  con- 
quered a  difficulty — and  he  was  sad  to  leave  the 
place. 

To-day,  the  whole  school,  masters  and  scholars, 
were  to  go  out  into  the  country,  along  the  Thames, 
where  the  boys  might  swim  and  play  to  their 
hearts'  content.  It  had  been  the  custom,  for 
many  years,  to  take  this  excursion  before  the 
final  exercises  at  the  closing  of  the  term.  It  was 
a  re-union — a  chance  for  last  words  and  the 
cementing  of  friendships  for  after  life;  it  was 
looked  forward  to  and  talked  over  for  many  days 
beforehand. 

The  weather  was  sunny  and  warm.  When 
they  reached  the  farm-house  at  which  they  were 
to  alight,  the  boys  rushed  madly  through  the 
fields,  laughing,  joking  and  playing  all  manner 
of  tricks  upon  each  other. 

Horseham  Meadow  was  a  large  open  field,  on 
one  side  of  which  was  a  wooded  hill.  The  river 


78  THINK    AND   THANK. 

ran  near  by,  and  the  banks  were  shelving  and 
gravelly — just  the  place  for  swimming.  Half  a 
mile  up  the  stream  was  a  public  boat-house. 

"  Let's  hire  some  boats  and  have  a  row/' 
Hornby  said  to  Moses.  "  Noel  and  I  can  take 
one  boat,  and  you  and  Isaac  the  other.  It  would 
be  a  good  thing  to  get  some  exercise  before  we  go 
swimming ;  we  can  row  back  here  and  have  fun 
with  the  boys  who  are  swimming." 

"  I'll  go  if  the  others  are  in,"  Moses  said.  "  But 
I  don't  know  much  about  rowing." 

They  made  their  way  up  the  stream.  The 
banks  were  sweet  with  summer  flowers.  Startled 
frogs  jumped  from  the  grasses  and  plunged  loudly 
into  the  water.  The  rattle  of  the  kingfisher  was 
heard  as  he  darted  swiftly  from  tree  to  tree  or 
dived  after  his  prey.  Now  and  then,  they  came 
on  lone  fishermen,  who  grunted  unintelligent 
replies  when  asked  how  many  fish  they  had 
caught. 

On  reaching  the  boat-house,  it  was  but  a  few 
minutes  before  the  boys  were  in  the  boats  and  on 
their  way  down  the  river.  Moses  had  never- 
rowed  before,  and  made  his  friends  laugh  by 
taking  his  seat  with  his  face  towards  the  bow. 
When  they  got  off,  he  made  many  mistakes,  and 


A    SWIMMING    MATCH.  79 

several  times  fell  over  backwards.  It  was  some 
time  before  he  could  get  in  the  way  of  the  thing. 
Isaac  had  had  very  little  experience — between 
them  they  made  a  very  sorry  exhibition.  Noel 
and  Hornby  soon  left  them  far  behind.  It  was 
not  long  before  they  saw  a  third  boat  put  out  from 
the  boat-house ;  when  it  drew  near,  the  oarsmen 
proved  to  be  Moses'  old  enemies,  George  Owen  and 
Richard  Doughty.  These  two  rested  on  their  oars. 
Both  had  lived  in  the  country,  and  knew  all  about 
boats.  They  seemed  to  be  in  a  reckless  humor. 

"  You  don't  get  on  very  fast,"  Dick  Doughty 
said.  "  You  fan  the  air  too  much.  The  blade  of 
the  oar  is  made  to  go  into  the  water." 

"  They  think  they  are  in  a  flying  machine," 
Owen  sneered.  "Some  people  think  they  do 
everything  well,  but  they  don't." 

"Let  them  be,"  Moses  said,  as  he  saw  that 
Isaac  was  about  to  fling  some  answer  back. 
"  What's  the  use.  They  are  spoiling  for  a  quarrel. 
Let's  try  it  again." 

So  they  rowed  awkwardly  down  the  stream. 
The  new  arrivals  would  not  leave  them,  but  went 
leisurely  along,  making  all  kinds  of  jeering 
remarks  about  their  mistakes. 

At  last,  the  boats  arrived  at  the  bank  where 


80  THINK    AND    THANK. 

the  boys  were  bathing.  There  were  not  many  of 
them  in  the  water  yet,  and  all  wanted  to  be  taken 
out  rowing.  Moses  and  Isaac  took  them  off,  two 
at  a  trip,  and  gave  them  short  rides  across  the 
stream  and  back. 

After  a  time,  as  they  were  about  starting  out, 
and  Moses  was  standing  up  with  an  oar  in  his 
hand,  he  heard  a  cry  and  turning  saw  that 
Owen  and  Doughty  were  rowing  recklessly 
towards  him.  Moses  called  out  a  warning  but  they 
either  did  not  hear  him,  or  did  not  care,  for,  in 
another  instant,  there  was  a  crash  of  the  boats. 
He  tottered,  tried  in  vain  to  keep  his  balance, 
stuck  the  oar  deep  in  the  water  without  getting 
any  support,  then  dropped  it  and  found  himself 
diving  after  it.  He  came  to  the  surface,  almost 
at  once,  and  swam  ashore,  choking  and  blowing 
the  water  from  his  mouth.  He  was  a  sad  picture, 
dripping  wet,  and  the  boys,  when  they  saw  there 
was  no  danger,  roared  at  him. 

"  You  did  that  on  purpose,  George  Owen,"  he 
said.  "  I'll  pay  you  out  for  it — see  if  I  don't. 
You've  broken  the  boat,  too." 

"It's  your  own  clumsiness.  You  don't  know 
anything  about  boats;  you  oughtn't  be  allowed 
to  have  one." 


A    SWIMMING    MATCH.  81 

"  We  were  standing  still,  and  you  ran  into  us. 
You  are  a  coward ;  and  I  say  you  did  it  on 
purpose." 

Moses  was  getting  angry.  But  he  found  he 
must  get  his  clothing  dry  before  he  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  discuss  the  matter. 

"  You  had  better  take  that  boat  back  to  the 
house,  Isaac,"  he  said.  "  Pay  the  man  for  the 
damage  to  it.  That  side  is  badly  strained  and 
it  is  not  fit  to  use  any  more.  I'll  take  off  my 
clothes  and  dry  them  in  the  sun ;  you  come 
back  as  soon  as  you  can,  and  we  will  go  in  swim- 
ming." 

The  sun  was  very  hot,  but  Moses  knew  that  it 
would  be  a  long  time  before  his  clothes  would 
dry.  However,  he  hung  them  on  the  bushes, 
near  by,  then  went  in  swimming.  He  had  learned 
the  art  in  the  large  pool  in  the  gymnasium  at  the 
school,  had  practised  until  he  could  sustain  him- 
self without  fatigue,  for  a  long  time,  and  was  a 
fast  and  vigorous  over-arm  swimmer. 

It  was  a  capital  spot  for  the  sport.  There  was 
a  shelving  beach  of  gravel,  where  the  sun  shone 
free,  and  a  few  hundred  yards  farther  down, 
there  was  a  steep  rock,  under  the  trees,  and, 
beneath,  a  deep  hole — a  fine  place  for  diving. 

6 


82  THINK    AND    THANK. 

The  water  was  somewhat  cool,  but  Moses  did 
not  mind  it;  full  of  life  and  spirits,  he  swam 
among  the  boys  and  soon  forgot  his  anger  at  the 
ducking  he  had  received. 

Even  in  the  short  races  that  they  took  while 
playing  about,  there  were  only  two  or  three  boys 
who  were  in  any  way  his  match.  John  Hornby 
was  a  much  faster  swimmer,  but  he  puffed  and 
sighed  so,  after  his  efforts,  that  Moses  wished  for 
a  chance  to  test  his  endurance. 

Presently,  Dick  Doughty  and  George  Owen 
hauled  up  their  boat  on  shore  and  came  into  the 
water.  Without  making  any  direct  challenge, 
they  tried  to  draw  Moses  into  a  race  with  them, 
but  he  paid  no  attention  to  their  efforts.  It  was 
not  long  before  Isaac  Goldsmid  and  Noel  Hilton 
came  back  from  the  boat-house.  Moses  went  out 
to  see  them. 

"  It  took  all  the  cash  we  had  to  make  it  right 
with  that  boatman,"  Isaac  said.  "  Those  duffers 
who  did  the  damage  ought  to  pay  for  it." 

"  Never  mind,  let  them  be,"  Moses  said.  "  It 
is  not  worth  while  fighting  about  it,  with  such 
fellows  as  that.  We'll  divide  the  loss.  Come  on 
in." 

Soon  they  were  all  three  racing  up  the  stream. 


A    SWIMMING    MATCH.  83 

Noel  and  Moses  were  evenly  matched,  but  Isaac 
soon  fell  behind. 

"  Let's  get  Hornby  and  Joe  Harris,  and  have 
a  race  up  to  that  rock  and  back,"  Noel  said,  point- 
ing to  a  rock  up  the  stream,  on  the  opposite  side. 

It  was  soon  arranged  and  they  made  ready 
for  a  start.  Doughty  and  Owen  overheard  the 
plans,  and  they  also  prepared  to  take  part.  Isaac 
acted  as  the  starter. 

'''Are  you  ready/'  he  cried. 

"All  ready,"  Noel  answered. 

"  I  will  count  one,  two,  three  and  go — then 
you  start." 

At  the  word  they  were  off.  There  was  no 
chance  for  any  one  to  claim  a  foul ;  they  all  made 
so  much  noise  in  their  struggles  that  it  would  not 
have  been  heard. 

Hornby  and  Doughty  forged  far  ahead,  in  the 
first  few  minutes ;  the  other  three  were  together. 
Moses'  heart  beat  fast  with  excitement,  but  he 
remembered  his  experience,  and  kept  up  an  even, 
careful"  stroke.  It  was  to  be  a  long  race — at  least 
half  a  mile  in  all.  He  felt  confident  that  the 
leaders  could  not  retain  their  advantage. 

Half-way  to  the  rock,  that  was  fixed  as  the 
turning  point,  Joe  Harris  had  fallen  to  the  rear, 


84  THINK    AND    THANK. 

while  the  others  maintained  their  places.  Then 
Moses  began  to  slowly  lessen  the  distance  between 
himself  and  the  leaders.  George  Owen  held  his 
own. 

At  the  rock,  the  swimmers  were  so  near 
together,  that  the  boys  who  stood  on  the  shore 
to  watch  them  could  not  tell  who  was  ahead. 

Hornby  was  puffing  and  blowing  like  a  gram- 
pus, and,  despite  his  efforts,  fell  slowly  behind ; 
but  Richard  Doughty  easily  kept  the  slight 
advantage  he  had,  and  Moses  and  he  crept 
slowly  ahead  of  the  others,  with  no  variance  in 
the  distance  between  them.  After  a  little,  as 
Moses  turned  over,  he  looked  backward  and  saw 
that  Joe  Harris  had  left  the  race  entirely  and 
swam  ashore,  and  that  Hornby  was  also  disgusted 
and  making  his  way  to  the  other  bank.  Owen 
was  still  following,  but  the  distance  between  him 
and  the  two  boys  was  rapidly  increasing,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  laboring  greatly.  The  victory  lay 
between  Moses  and  Doughty,  and  to  the  latter 
our  hero  now  turned  all  his  thoughts. 

Doughty  was  one  of  those  boys  who  are  born 
wiry  and  strong.  He  did  not  trouble  himself  about 
exercise  or  regular  hours,  yet  he  had  a  physique 
that  was  the  admiration  of  all  who  saw  him.  Now 


A    SWIMMING   MATCH.  85 

his. endurance  was  being  put  to  the  test;  so  far, 
he  stood  it  well.  Moses  was  urging  him  on ; 
every  muscle  the  boy  had — all  the  knacks  he 
had  caught  in  the  art,  were  brought  into  play. 
The  constant  exercise  in  the  gymnasium  had 
hardened  him — he  was  still  swimming  with  a 
full,  easy  stroke.  His  brain  was  quiet  now;  he 
was  determined  to  win.  The  old-time  pluck  that 
he  had  shown  when  he  had  stood  the  flogging, 
and  when  he  had  fought  Owen,  was  once  more  at 
his  heart. 

They  had  covered  more  than  half  the  distance 
from  the  rock  to  the  starting  point. 

Moses  had  slowly  drawn  up  on  his  adversary; 
they  were  swimming  side  by  side,  almost  neck  to 
neck. 

Doughty  was  panting  and  laboring ;  he  hurled 
himself  onward  with  great  over-hand  strokes,  the 
water  surged  about  him  wildly ;  but  the  training 
was  beginning  to  tell.  The  months  of  work  with 
dumb-bells  and  on  the  parallel  bars,  made  the 
muscles  of  the  boy  at  his  side  as  hard  as  iron,  and 
there  was  a  calm  strength  in  his  stroke  that  had 
in  it  the  look  of  victory. 

The  boys  crowded  the  bank  and  began  to 
cheer.  The  interest  was  intense,  both  swimmers 


86  THINK    AND    THANK. 

felt  new  excitement  and  energy.  Dougnty  thrust 
himself  ahead  wildly,  then,  after  a  little  time,  fell 
behind  again.  A  hundred  yards  or  more  and  the 
race  would  be  over.  The  fierce  spirit  of  contest 
had  aroused  Moses'  blood;  there  was  no  question 
of  fatigue  about  him  now.  On  and  on  with  steady 
stroke.  In  another  instant  he  would  begin  the 
wild  race  on  the  home-stretch,  and  he  felt  that  he 
should  win. 

"  Help  !  help ! " — a  smothered  voice  back  of 
him. 

He  saw  the  boys  on  the  shore  crowd  together 
and  point  over  the  water  with  anxious  looks.  He 
turned  his  .eyes.  No  sign  of  Owen !  Only  some 
ripples  over  the  quiet  surface  of  the  river. 

In  an  instant  Moses  turned,  and  retraced  his 
course  with  nervous  strokes.  All  thought  of  the 
race  vanished  from  his  brain;  in  its  place,  he  felt 
that  strained,  anxious  horror  that  comes  to  every- 
one in  the  face  of  possible  sudden  death.  He 
kept  his  eyes  ahead,  scanning  the  water  for  a 
sight  of  Owen.  No  sign ;  and  he  had  certainly 
passed  the  point  where  the  boy  had  gone  down. 

Then,  as  he  turned  over,  he  saw  a  sight,  that 
all  the  sadness  and  suffering  he  witnessed  in 
after  years  did  not  drive  from  his  remembrance. 


A    SWIMMING   MATCH.  87 

A  body  rose  slowly  to  the  surface,  only  a  few  feet 
away.  The  limbs  moved,  nervously,  and  the 
hands  were  clutching  wildly  for  some  support. 
Bubbles  arose  from  the  mouth,  and  the  eyes,  wide 
open,  were  set  in  the  glare  of  despair.  Death 
seemed  looking  from  them. 

Moses  felt  a  chill  at  his  heart,  and,  for  a 
moment,  could  not  move.  But  he  recovered  him- 
self. He  remembered  the  terrible  stories  he  had 
read,  where  the  drowning  man  clutched  his  savior 
in  a  mad  grasp  and  dragged  him  to  death. 
Fortunately  Owen's  head  came  near  to  him,  ere 
he  sank  again,  and  Moses  fixed  one  hand  in  the 
great  shock  of  hair,  then  forced  himself  away, 
wildly,  with  the  other.  Owen  struggled — his 
hands  violently  renewed  their  efforts  to  grasp  his 
rescuer — but  in  vain. 

The  boys  on  the  shore  were  so  much  inter- 
ested in  watching  the  course  of  events,  that,  at 
first,  they  did  not  have  sense  enough  to  put  off  in 
the  boat  that  was  drawn  up  near  by;  but  when 
Moses  cried  loudly  for  help,  so  many  of  them 
rushed  madly  to  the  rescue,  that  it  took  some  time 
to  get  the  boat  in  the  water  and  decide  who 
should  go  in  it. 

Moses   felt  chilly ;    a   strange    stiffness   shot 


88  THINK    AND    THANK. 

through  his  legs.  Owen  struggled,  and  several 
times  almost  succeeded,  in  grasping  him ;  but  the 
vice-like  grip  in  his  hair  never  loosened,  and  the 
pain  of  it  probably  aided  Moses  to  hold  him  and 
keep  him  off. 

But  it  could  not  last  much  longer.  The  boy 
felt  in  his  heart  that  the  end  of  all  things  was 
near  at  hand;  a  carelessness  as  to  consequences 
came  over  him.  His  limbs  refused  to  move,  and 
he  was  chilled  to  the  bone.  He  could  not  keep 
the  grasping  arms  away.  Suddenly  they  seized 
him,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  sinking  for  miles 
below  the  surface.  Then  he  heard  Mr.  Sever  say: 

"  He  will  be  all  right  now." 

He  was  lying  on  the  bank,  in  the  hot  sun,  the 
teachers  and  boys  about  him. 

"  What  became  of  Owen,"  he  asked,  feebly, 
after  he  had  been  rubbed  and  slapped  with  the 
palms  of  several  hands  until  his  skin  was  in  u 
glow. 

"He's  all  right,  or  will  be  in  a  little  while. 
The  boat  saved  you  both." 

A  wagon  was  got  from  a  neighboring  farm- 
house, and  the  two  boys  were  driven  back  to  the 
coaching  station  together.  There  was  not  much 
conversation  between  them. 


AX    EVENING    AT    HOME.  89 

"Look  here,  old  chap,  I  am  sorry  for  the 
things  I  have  done  to  you,"  Owen  said,  at  last, 
just  before  they  reached  the  station.  "  I'd  been 
drowned  if  it  hadn't  been  for  you.  There  is  not, 
another  fellow  would  have  done  it." 

He  held  out  his  hand,  and  Moses  grasped  it 
warmly. 

He  saw  there  were  tears  in  his  former  adver- 
sary's eyes. 

• 

CHAPTER  X. 
AN  EVENING  AT  HOME. 

Amid  all  the  trials  of  the  world — the  troubles 
at  school,  the  unmerited  punishments,  the  dislike 
of  his  fellow-scholars,  and  the  strain  of  defeats, 
Moses  had  been  comforted  always  by  the  sweet- 
ness of  his  home  life.  His  mother  and  father 
were  ever  ready  with  the  deepest  love  to  help 
him,  and  Uncle  Moses  watched  over  his  progress 
with  a  heart  as  kind  as  it  was  determined  and 
just.  So,  too,  Uncle  Josh,  on  his  visits,  cheered 
the  boy  by  his  jolly  ways,  and  lightened  all  his 
cares  writh  the  hopes  and  encouragements  that  he 
held  out.  Now,  having  conquered  so  many  of 
the  difficulties  that  beset  him,  and  with  these 


90  THINK    AND    THANK. 

helping  hands  about  him,  Moses  was  almost  happy. 
To  be  sure,  there  were  little  troubles,  now  and  then, 
but  with  them  a  sense  of  freedom  and  power, 
and  life  was  filled  with  more  meaning  to  him. 

At  this  time  he  was  perhaps  somewhat  back- 
ward among  girls,  as  boys  are  apt  to  be.  He  had 
not  the  shyness  or  false  bashralness  that  is  often 
seen ;  but  was  very  reserved,  and  found  little  to  say. 
So,  one  day,  when  his  sister  Sarah  told  him  she 
was  going  to  give  a  party  on  her  birthday,  and 
that  he  must  look  his  best  and  try  to  be  jolly,  she 
was  greeted  with  a  very  wry  face. 

"Whom  are  you  going  to  have?"  he  asked. 

"  Only  a  few.  Bessie  Johnson,  Esther  Gold- 
smid;  your  friend,  Judith  Cohen,  and  four  or  five 
others." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do,  when  you  get 
them  here?" 

"  Play  games,  and  have  something  to  eat. 
What  more  do  you  want  ?" 

"  Well,  I'll  be  here,  of  course ;  but  I  don't  care 
about  it  much." 

"But  you  love  me,  don't  you?"  his  mother 
said,  smiling.  She  laid  her  hand  against  his 
cheek,  and  he  leaned  his  head  over  on  it.  It  felt 
soft  and  cool ;  his  face  was  so  warm  by  the  fire. 


AN    EVENING    AT    HOME.  91 

"  Girls  I  don't  see  the  use  of.  They  are  bothers 
and  they  can't  talk  about  anything." 

"  You  are  always  the  silent  one,  when  they  are 
about,"  Sarah  said. 

"  I  think  all  manly  boys  are,"  her  father 
broke  in,  looking  up  from  his  book  by  the  fire. 
He  was  a  reserved  man,  but  took  a  quiet,  sweet 
interest  in  all  his  children,  not  the  less  deep  that 
they  had  beside  the  double  care  of  Rachel  and 
Uncle  Moses. 

"  But  it  would  be  so  much  better  if  they  were 
not,"  Rachel  said.  "  I  want  Moses  to  be  natural 
and  pleasant,  manly  in  all  things," — she  pressed 
the  hand  tightly  that  held  her  own. 

"  I  saw  Mr.  Johnson  to-day,  and  I  have  made 
arrangements  for  you  to  go  into  his  store  to  learn 
business,"  Moses'  father  said.  "  They  cannot  bother 
you  then,  Moses.  You  can  say  you  are  too  busy 
and  haven't  time  to  attend  to  them,"  laughing. 

"  Why  don't  you  take  me  in  with  you,  father? 
I'd  much  rather  be  in  your  store." 

"I  should  spoil  you,"  his  father  said,  smiling. 
"  You  will  get  a  better  training  outside,  where  you 
have  some  one  to  correct  you." 

"  I  wish  you  would  let  me  go  into  the  army. 
That's  what  I  want  most." 


92  THINK    AND   THANK. 

"Why  there  is  no  place  for  you  there.  We 
are  forbidden  everything,  except  trade." 

"  But  look  at  Uncle  Josh." 

"  He  has  special  privileges,  you  know." 

"  Well,  he  says  he  can  get  them  for  me,  too." 

"  I  want  you  to  learn  business  first.  It  will 
be  time  enough  to  talk  of  war  hereafter." 

Sarah  and  little  Esther  were  filled  with  excite- 
ment on  the  evening  of  the  birthday.  Uncle 
Moses  and  Uncle  Josh  were  among  the  guests, 
and  none  of  the  children  enjoyed  it  more  than 
the  great  soldier,  with  his  laughter  and  jollity. 
In  Blind-man's-buff,  he  rushed  wildly  to  and  fro, 
and  when  he  seized  a  little  girl,  he  was  not  con- 
tent with  kissing  her,  but  put  her  on  his  shoulder, 
and  carried  her  triumphantly  about  the  room. 

After  supper  when  they  were  all  gathered 
about  the  fire,  and  apples  were  roasting  and  nuts 
cracking  in  the  ashes,  the  children  insisted  that 
he  should  tell  them  of  a  new  game.  "  Something 
warlike,"  Esther  said. 

"  My  games  would  all  be  too  rough  for  you," 
he  said,  "'but  you  might  have  a  play  with  soldiers 
in  it." 

They  all  wanted  this,  and  were  so  persistent 
that  at  last  Uncle  Josh  consented  to  help  them. 


AN    EVENING    AT    HOME.  93 

With  a  bit  of  wire  and  two  shawls,  he  arranged 
a  stage  for  his  drama.  Moses,  Judith  Cohen, 
Uncle  Moses  and  Rachel  were  to  be  actors. 

There  was  much  hurrying  to  and  fro,  on  the 
part  of  Rachel,  hunting  costumes,  and  helping 
the  two  uncles  to  arrange  the  scenery.  The 
audience  was  in  a  state  of  wild  interest,  long 
before  the  play  began. 

At  last  Uncle  Josh  commanded  silence. 

"  This  is  a  play  without  words,"  he  said.  "So 
I  will  explain  the  scenes  as  we,  go  along.  The 
first  picture  shows  a  young  soldier  called  away 
to  the  wars.  He  is  bidding  his  sweetheart  good- 
bye." 

He  drew  the  curtains. 

Moses  was  dressed  in  an  old  uniform  of  Uncle 
Josh,  and  such  a  tall  fellow  had  he  grown  that  it 
almost  fitted  him.  He  was  holding  out  his  arms 
to  Judith,  who  stood  near  with  her  handkerchief 
to  her  eyes.  Presently  she  looked  up.  How 
pretty  she  was  in  her  childish  innocence!  A 
slight  girlish  figure,  ruddy  complexion,  black 
hair  and  clear  bright  eyes.  Moses  threw  his 
arms  about  her,  and  she  sobbed  bitterly  on  his 
gay  uniform. 

There  was  great  laughter  and  applause  on  the 


94  THINK    AND    THANK. 

part  of  the  audience;  and  they  could  not  ( rest 
quiet  until  the  actors  were  again  ready. 

"The  next  scene,"  said  Uncle  Josh, "shows  his 
sweetheart  at  home  with  her  mother.  The  post- 
man comes  in  with  a  letter  and  bad  news." 

Judith  sat  by  a  table,  sewing,  and  Rachel 
opposite.  The  girl  looked  up,  nervously,  every 
now  and  then.  There  was  a  loud  knock,  that 
made  them  both  start;  and  then  a  second,  louder. 
Rachel  went  to  the  door.  The  postman  came  in 
— Uncle  Moses.  After  much  search  he  produced 
a  letter.  Judith  opened  it  hastily,  and  then  fell 
back  in  her  chair,  sobbing  wildly. 

"  I  must  take  part  in  the  next  scene,"  Uncle 
Josh  said  ; "  so  you  will  have  to  see  for  yourselves 
what  it  is  about." 

When  the  curtain  rose,  the  old  soldier  was 
seen,  with  sword  in  hand  keeping  off  an  army 
of  foes  impersonated  by  Uncle  Moses,  while  he 
half  carried  Moses  off  the  battle-field,  seriously 
wounded. 

In  the  final  act,  as  before,  Judith  was  seen  at 
her  work,  but  this  time  without  Rachel.  She  was 
dressed  in  mourning.  A  knock  came,  and  she 
went  hastily  to  the  door.  A  soldier  entered 
limping  with  a  crutch,  and  his  arm  in  a  sling. 


AX    EVENING    AT    HOME.  95 

She  fell  back,  crying  and  frightened,  and  her 
love'r,  dropping  his  support,  knelt  at  her  side. 

In  the  excitement  of  the  play  the  crutch 
struck  the  candle  on  the  table,  and  knocked  it  on 
the  floor  at  Judith's  feet.  It  was  not  extinguished 
in  the  fall,  and  in  an  instant,  the  flame  had 
caught  her  light  dress.  Moses  saw  it,  and  with 
his  hands  beat  out  the  fire  before  it  could  gain 
headway. 

It  all  happened  in  a  moment,  but  the  audience 
were  breathless,  and  the  actors  came  forward, 
amidst  a  burst  of  applause  that  was  very  real  and 
heartfelt,  on  the  part  of  the  older  ones,  at  least, 
who  knew  the  serious  danger. 

"  I  have  ruined  one  of  your  best  dresses, 
Sarah,"  Judith  said,  sorrowfully.  "  But  you  must 
be  glad  it  did  not  burn  it  all  up." 

"  I  am  gladder  it  did  not  burn  you,"  Sarah  said. 

When  the  visitors  had  all  gone,  and  the 
family  was  once  more  gathered  about  the1  fire, 
the  moment  before  going  to  bed,  Uncle  Moses  said : 

"  Well,  Moses,  do  you  still  find  girls  a  nuis- 
ance ?" 

His  nephew  blushed  and  laughed. 

"Oh!"  he  said,  "they  are  not  so  bad  to  play 
soldier  with." 


96  THINK    AND    THANK. 

CHAPTER  XL 

<?  • 

MOSES  A  CAPTAIN. 

"I  don't  like  tea  and  groceries  as  a  steady 
business," 

Moses  sat  with  Isaac  Goldsmid  in  the  latter's 
comfortable  room,  in  his  home  at  Morden. 

"  Why  don't  you  come  with  us  ?"  Isaac  said. 
"Gold  and  precious  stones  are  not  as  nice  as  the 
army,  but  you  might  like  it  better  than  where 
you  are." 

"  Can  I  get  a  place,  do  you  think  ?" 

"Ask  Uncle  Moses ;  he  has  the  say,  you  know. 
He  says  there  is  always  a  chance  for  good  boys 
in  our  business,"  Isaac  answered,  laughing. 

The  friendship  between  the  two  had  grown 
deeper  as  time  went  on.  Isaac  was  becoming  a 
shrewd,  careful  financier.  He  was,  besides,  vastly 
interested,  not  only  in  business  questions,  but 
in  good  works.  The  welfare  of  society  was  as 
much  to  him  as  personal  wealth.  His  influence 
was  always  for  the  best. 

"  Don't  go  into  the  army,"  he  said,  when  his 
friend  spoke  with  him  about  it— and  it  was  many 
times.  "  You  can  do  more  out  of  it  than  in  it. 


MOSES    A    CAPTAIN.  97 

\ 

There  is  such  great  work  to  be  done  here ;  I 
cannot  see  much  good  in  war." 

Moses  had  begged,  in  vain,  to  be  allowed  to 
take  up  the  trade  of  arms,  but  those  about  him 
were  not  willing  to  have  it  so.  His  father  had 
articled  him  to  a  firm  of  which  his  neighbor 
Robert  Johnson  was  the  head,  and  Moses  had 
faithfully  served  as  an  apprentice  in  the  business. 
He  still  longed  for  the  army ;  but  certainly  to  be 
in  his  uncle's  store  with  Isaac  Goldsmid  was 
better  than  his  present  position.  Moses'  uncle 
was  a  partner  with  Isaac's  father  in  his  business, 
and  it  was  easily  arranged  that  he  should  have 
a  place  with  them,  among  the  gold  and  jewels  of 
one  of  the  largest  brokerage  houses  in  London. 

He  had  grown  in  the  year  since  leaving 
school.  He  was  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  and  by 
constant  exercise  had  kept  himself  muscular  and 
erect.  He  was  a  man  in  his  stature  and  almost 
one  in  his  thoughts.  Happy  by  nature,  his  great 
flow  of  animal  spirits,  his  lively  conversation  and 
gentle  manners  soon  made  him  a  great  favorite 
with  his  new  employers.  The  utmost  confidence 
was  reposed  in  him,  and  he  was  entrusted  with 
the  care  of  vast  sums  of  money  and  bullion  and 
precious  stones. 


98  THINK    AND   THANK. 

There  was  one  person  about  the  office  who  did 
not  like  Moses,  and  Moses  soon  grew  to  have  a 
feeling  of  distrust  for  him.  This  was  Henry 
Bland,  one  of  the  clerks.  He  was  hard-working 
and  accurate  in  his  ways;  but,  without  any  definite 
reason  in  his  heart,  Moses  had  that  instinctive 
distrust  of  his  sincerity,  which  so  often  exists 
without  one  being  able  to  explain  why. 

The  doubts  that  he  held  were  one  day  much 
increased. 

He  was  making  a  short  cut  through  a  side 
street,  when  he  saw  Bland  coming  out  of  a  drink- 
ing-house,  with  two  flashy  men,  who  looked  like 
professional  gamblers  or  sharps.  He  spoke  to 
him  and  passed  on ;  but  he  was  sure  there  was 
an  agitated  look  on  the  clerk's  face  that  showed 
that  he  felt  he  had  been  detected  in  suspicious 
company.  Moses'  doubts  were  greater  when 
Bland  came  back  to  the  office. 

"  Those  were  a  couple  of  fellows  I  went  with 
to  see  a  sick  man,  who  belongs  to  the  same  society 
as  I  do,"  Bland  said,  with  a  hard  look  of  pretended 
innocence  on  his  face. 

The  fact  that  he  felt  it  necessary  to  offer  such 
an  excuse,  without  any  one  having  accused  him, 
was,  of  itself,  enough  to  condemn  him;  but  Moses, 


MOSES   A    CAPTAIN.  99 

knowing  him  to  be  the  only  support  of  his  mother, 
did  not  have  the  heart,  on  such  bare  suspicions, 
to  speak  to  his  uncle  about  the  matter.  The  mere 
taking  of  a  drink  with  two  sporting  men  was  not 
of  itself  enough  to  show  him  to  be  a  bad  clerk. 

It  was  oftentimes  necessary  that  large  sums  of 
gold  and  precious  stones  should  be  carried  to 
other  banking  houses  or  customers,  and  it  was 
Moses'  duty  to  act  as  escort  to  the  man  that  took 
the  valuables.  Bland  was  occasionally  this  mes- 
senger. With  the  jewels  or  money  in  a  case  or  bag, 
he  would  walk  ahead,  while  Moses  followed,  fully 
armed,  on  the  lookout  for  sudden  attacks.  These 
trips  were  exciting,  at  first,  and  every  corner 
seemed  a  hiding-place  for  a  highwayman.  But 
as  time  went  on,  Moses  ceased  his  vigilance  and 
the  matter  became  quite  commonplace. 

Now  that  his  suspicions  as  to  Bland's  steadi- 
njss  were  aroused,  Moses  watched  him  carefully, 
and  in  following  him  along  the  street  wras  always 
ready  for  trouble.  For  a  long  time,  however 
nothing  came  of  it.  Bland  was  more  than  ever 
attentive  to  all  his  duties ;  there  was  in  no  way 
the  slightest  cause  for  complaint. 

It  happened,  one  day,  that  a  large  purchase  of 
diamonds  had  been  made  by  a  customer  of  the 


100  THINK    AND    THANK. 

house.  They  were  to  be  a  gift  to  a  foreign 
princess  on  her  marriage,  and  were  worth  a 
fortune.  It,  was  arranged  that  Bland  should 
carry  the  jewels,  and  that  Moses  and  Isaac  should 
go  with  him  as  escort.  At  the  last  moment,  Isaac 
was  detained,  and,  as  the  delivery  was  a  matter 
of  time,  Moses  and  Bland  started  without  him. 

Their  customer  lived  in  another  part  of  the 
town,  and,  by  the  busy  streets,  the  way  was  long. 
A  much  shorter  route  could  be  taken  by  means  of 
the  back  streets  and  alleys;  into  these  Bland 
turned.  Moses  was  about  to  remonstrate  with 
him  on  the  danger  of  these  secluded  ways,  but 
his  fears  seemed  foolish,  and  he  said  nothing. 
His  personal  bravery  sometimes  made  him  indif- 
ferent to  risk.  He  kept  a  sharp  lookout,  however. 
In  his  coat  pocket  was  a  pistol,  ready  for  action, 
and,  in  addition,  he  carried  a  heavy  stick,  loaded 
at  the  end  with  lead. 

At  the  corner  of  a  small  street,  crossing  the 
one  they  were  on,  was  a  low,  dingy  dram- 
shop. The  upper  windows  were  closed,  and 
there  was  an  air  of  darkness  and  dreariness  about 
it,  heightened  by  the  fact  that  a  light  shone  over 
the  door  leading  into  the  bar.  It  was  a  house 
that,  at  night,  Moses  would  have  thought  of  in 


MOSES    A    CAPTAIN.  101 

connection  with  murders,  and  hurried  by;  a 
house  that,  even  in  the  daylight,  struck  him  with 
a  feeling  of  suspicion. 

,  At  the  corner  Bland  paused.     There  was  no 
one  in  sight. 

"Shall  we  turn  down  this  way?"  he  asked, 
nervously. 

Moses  thought  it  strange  that  he  should  put 
such  a  question ;  he  knew  Bland  was  familiar 
with  every  street  about  there,  and  must  have 
known  that  their  way  lay  directly  ahead. 

"  Certainly  not;  go  right  on,"  Moses  replied. 

Then  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  opening  of  a 
door,  quietly,  and  before  he  could  turn,  his  stick 
was  wrenched  from  his  grasp,  his  arms  pinioned 
to  his  side,  and  he  was  struggling  with  some 
unknown  enemy.  A  second  assailant  seized 
Bland,  and  was  evidently  trying  to  rob  him 
of  the  jewelry. 

The  attack  was  so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  that 
Moses  was  taken  by  surprise.  The  grasp  of  the 
man  who  held  him  was  like  a  band  of  steel.  In 
vain  he  struggled  to  free  himself.  He  strained 
every  nerve  and  muscle  in  an  effort  to  throw  the 
fellow  over  his  head,  only  to  be  met  with  a 
strength  and  weight  that  proved  it  useless  to  try 


102  THINK    AND   THANK. 

and  rid  himself  in  that  way.  Then  he  endeav- 
ored to  twist  himself  out  of  the  vice-like  grip. 

A  violent  struggle  followed.  Over  and  across 
the  pavement,  around  and  around  they  whirled. 
Moses  was  mad  to  desperation  when  he  saw  that 
Bland  was  on  his  back  in  the  street,  the  second 
robber  going  through  his  pockets.  In  a  moment 
more  he  would  have  the  case  containing  the 
diamonds. 

Again  the  struggle  with  his  assailant  began. 

Moses  noticed  that  the  cellar  window  of  the 
house  projected  into  the  street,  somewhat,  and 
was  without  a  grating.  There  was  room  enough 
for  a  man's  legs  to  go  through.  He  forced  the 
robber  backwards  toward  it.  In  the  excitement, 
his  assailant  did  not  suspect  the  object.  He  found 
himself  hurled  against  the  side  of  the  house; 
then  his  foot  slipped  and  he  dropped  down- 
ward, letting  go  of  Moses  in  the  shock  of  his 
descent. 

Meanwhile,  the  second  robber  had  taken  the 
case  from  Bland,  and  was  making  off  with  it. 
Moses  left  his  late  assailant,  and  bounded  after 
him.  He  had  always  been  a  fleet  runner,  and 
before  the  thief  had  crossed  the  street,  he  felt 
someone  throw  his  whole  weight  on  him,  and,  in 


MOSES   A    CAPTAIN.  103 

an  instant,  he  was  struggling  on  the  ground  in 
the  grasp  of  a  man  as  strong  as  himself. 

Moses  now  had  a  chance  to  use  his  weapon. 
He  drew  the  pistol  from  his  pocket,  and  using  it 
as  a  billy,  struck  the  man  on  the  head.  Ere  he 
could  raise  it  for  a  second  time,  the  other  robber, 
having  climbed  out  of  the  window,  again  attacked 
him — this  time  with  his  own  cane. 

Moses  fired  his  pistol,  but  in  the  excitement 
and  struggle  missed  his  aim.  The  man  rushed 
at  him  and  struck  a  fierce  blow  with  the  stick. 
For  a  moment,  the  three  struggled  furiously 
together.  The  odds  were  against  Moses  and  he 
would  certainly  have  suffered  had  not  help 
arrived,  the  pistol-shot  having  attracted  the 
attention  of  several  persons. 

In  a  few  moments,  the  streets  were  as  filled 
with  people  as  before  they  had  been  empty.  Both 
the  robbers  were  captured  and  taken  to  the  lock-up. 
Bland  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  diamonds 
were  safe,  but  Moses  suffered  many  weeks  from 
the  blow  on  the  head  he  had  received  from  the 
cane. 

The  robbers  were  afterwards  convicted,  and,  in 
their  testimony,  Bland  was  shown  to  have  been 
led  by  them  into  the  crime. 


104  THINK    AND    THANK. 

But  he  had  fled  to  parts  unknown  and  was 
never  caught. 

It  so  happened  that  the  customer  who  had 
purchased  the  diamonds  was  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
of  Surrey  County,  and  a  great  friend  of  Uncle 
Josh.  So  pleased  was  he  with  the  bravery  of  the 
boy  that  he  sent  for  him  that  he  might  thank 
him.  When  he  learned  of  his  military  ambition, 
he  questioned  him  as  to  his  knowledge  of  tactics 
and  the  science  of  arms.  Moses  did  not  know  the 
meaning  of  it  all,  at  the  time ;  but  one  day  he 
received  a  letter  with  the  official  stamp  of  the 
government,  which  told  him  that  his  majesty 
had  appointed  him  a  lieutenant  in  the  militia  of 
Surrey  County. 

Moses'  happiness  was  too  great  for  expression. 
The  trouble  with  Napoleon  had  begun,  across  the 
channel,  and  the  militia  was  put  on  a  war  foot- 
ing. There  was  incessant  drilling,  training  and 
marching,  but  never  too  much  for  Moses.  And 
those  about  him  came  to  look  upon  him  as  one 
fit  for  a  commander — kind,  yet  firm,  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  every  detail  of  his  duties. 

After  a  time,  the  captain  of  the  company 
accepted  a  commission  in  the  regular  army,  and 
Moses  Montefiore  wras  given  his  position.  There 


THE    CHOICE    OF   A    LIFE.  105 

was  not  one  of  his  comrades,  who  did  not  feel  in 
his  heart  that  the  most  fit  man  had  been  chosen 
for  the  place. 

How  happy  he  was  on  parade.  What  a 
glorious  life  was  open  to  him.  His  broad  shoul- 
ders, his  six  feet  01  manhood,  his  clear,  flashing 
eyes,  made  him  admired  by  all,  as  he  marched  at 
the  head  of  his  men. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  CHOICE  OF  A  LIFE, 

"  Uncle,  they  have  made  me  a  captain  in  the 
militia.  Don't  you  think  I  could  get  a  commis- 
sion in  the  regular  army,  now  ?" 

"  You  still  wish  to  give  up  gold  and  precious 
stones  for  military  glory  ?" 

"  Do  you  think  I  can  ever  be  fond  of  trade 
when  there  is  a  chance  for  the  other  ?" 

"  But  you  have  been  very  successful.  There 
is  no  better  man  in  our  house  than  yourself.  I 
should  not  know  what  to  do  without  you.  You 
will  grow  wealthy  if  you  keep  at  it." 

"Oh!  but  I  don't  care  for  that,  so  much;  I 
want  the  life  of  a  soldier.  Look  at  me,  Uncle!  I 
can  be  proud  of  my  strength  without  conceit,  can 


106  THINK    AND    THANK. 

I  not?"  and  he  stretched  his  arms  over  his  head, 
while  his  Uncle  was  silent  in  admiration. 

He  was  fully  six  feet  in  height,  with  a  heavy 
figure  of  perfect  proportions;  he  held  his  head 
with  that  erectness  that  came  from  his  long,  self- 
imposed  military  training.  His  eyes  were  deep  ; 
there  was  a  possession  in  their  glance  that  forced 
his  listeners  to  hear  him.  His  features,  in  their 
clear  outlines  were  as  if  cut  from  stone,  and  his 
ways,  in  all  things,  were  those  of  a  soldier.  There 
was  about  the  whole  man  that  over-abundance  of 
life  and  animal  strength  that  made  his  uncle 
feel  a  thrill  of  pleasure  in  his  heart  when  he 
thought  of  him,  in  the  uniform  of  the  guard, 
marching  to  battle.  Surely  God  had  made  this 
boy  to  be  a  leader  of  men ! 

"  I  never  can  like  the  confinement  of  trade," 
Moses  wrent  on ;  "I  want  to  be  out  in  the  open 
world.  When  I  hear  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  or 
the  tramp  of  troops,  my  heart  beats,  and  I  want 
to  throw  down  the  diamonds  on  the  floor,  spring 
over  the  counter  and  join  the  admiring  crowd 
that  follows  after." 

"  But  think   of  the  hardships,  the  sufferings, 
and  the  difficulty  of  success  to  any  one — more  so 
or  you,  because  of  your  race." 


THE    CHOICE    OF    A    LIFE.  107 

"  Look  at  Uncle  Josh,  though.  He  is  one  of 
us,  and,  yet,  he  might  have  a  '  Sir '  to  his  name 
did  he  wish  it  so.  I  don't  think  of  the  toil ;  I  am 
made  for  that,"  and  he  clutched  his  great  muscular 
hand,  nervously.  "  Besides,  there  is  almost  as 
much  opposition  against  us  in  trade  as  in  the 
army." 

They  were  at  the  house  of  Asher  Goldsmid,  at 
Morden,  having  been  invited  to  dine  with  a 
number  of  distinguished  guests,  among  whom 
were  Lord  Nelson  and  Uncle  Josh.  Uncle  Mo- 
catta  said  no  more,  at  the  moment,  for  dinner  was 
announced.  He  had  not  spoken  seriously  to 
Moses  for  some  time  on  the  subject  of  his  ambi- 
tion for  arms.  His  nephew  had  worked  faith- 
fully, with  great  success,  and  he  had  trusted  that 
years  would  remove  the  longings  for  military 
glory.  But  it  seemed  to  have  burned  in  his 
breast  during  all  this  time,  and  had  now  broken 
out,  the  more  fierce  that  it  had  been  so  long 
confined. 

At  dinner,  Lord  Nelson  and  Uncle  Josh  had 
many  military  stories  to  talk  over,  and,  finally, 
his  uncle  spoke  of  Moses  and  his  wish  to  enter 
the  army. 

"  If  he  is  as  fearless  and  indomitable  as  his 


108  THINK    AND    THANK. 

uncle,  and  as  brave  as  he  is  big,  I  think  we  can 
do  something  for  him/'  Lord  Nelson  said,  glancing 
over  at  Moses. 

A  look  of  pain  passed  over  Rachel's  face,  but 
her  son  did  not  see  it ;  and,  after  dinner,  over  their 
coffee  and  cigars,  he  spoke  to  his  Uncle  Josh  again 
about  the  matter. 

"  Could  I  get  a  commission  in  a  regular  corps, 
do  you  think?"  he  asked,  anxiously.  "  There  will 
be  great  wars  soon,  and  I  must  be  in  the  battles. 
I  am  of  age  now,  and  they  have  made  me  a 
captain  in  the  militia,  you  know ;  but  that  is 
not  exactly  regular,  and  I  will  have  no  chance 
there." 

"I  am  certain  the  king  will  grant  my  request, 
if  I  ask  him  to  let  you  serve  him.  On  my  return 
from  Africa,  when  I  declined  the  honors  he 
offered  me,  he  told  me  that  if  he  could  ever  do 
me  a  favor  I  might  ask  it.  And  his  Lordship 
will  say  a  word  for  you,  no  doubt." 

Lord  Nelson,  after  a  time,  spoke  with  Moses 
about  his  wish. 

"It  has  always  been  my  hope,  since  I  can 
remember,"  the  young  man  said.  "  It  is  in  my 
heart;  it  will  always  be  there.  I  am  hardy  and 
strong  and  I  feel  the  force  of  will  in  me  to  compel 

V 


THE    CHOICE    OF    A    LIFE.  100 

success  in  the  army.  I  know  I  will  succeed  there, 
if  I  am  not  killed." 

The  Admiral  was  impressed  with  the  physical 
beauty  of  the  youth,  and  his  fearless,  earnest 
ways.  He  felt,  as  he  looked  at  him,  that  the 
military  instinct  was  there.  "Soldier"  was 
written  in  the  face  and  eyes. 

"  I  will  make  it  a  personal  matter,"  he  said ; 
"and, coupled  with  your  uncle's  request,  and  your 
position  in  the  militia,  it  will  certainly  be  easy 
to  arrange  it.  There  are  chances  opening  now 
which  may  give  you  plenty  of  fighting  and 
glory." 

Moses'  heart  was  filled  with  wild  exultation. 
The  longings  of  his  life,  it  seemed,  were  all  to 
come  true.  He  felt  the  blood  bound  in  his  veins. 
He  had  that  strange  animal  desire  to  use  his 
great  strength  upon  something,  that  he  might 
show  the  joy  that  was  in  him.  Away  with  gold 
and  jewels  and  ledgers,  bonds  and  stocks  and 
loans!  Out  into  the  open  field  of  battle,  where 
foes  did  not  lurk,  but  were  seen  and  known  at 
once !  Life,  free  and  untrammelled  !  Victory  for 
his  country  in  her  cause !  Fame  with  her  crown 
of  laurel ! 

That  evening,  in  the  library  of  his  father's 


110  THINK    AND   THANK. 

house,  at  Kennington,  Moses  sat  before  the  fire 
with  his  arm  over  the  back  of  his  mother's  chair. 
His  hand  caressed  her  hair,  and,  now  and  then, 
she  would  reach  up  her  own  small  one  to  be  held 
in  his  firm  grasp.  Under  the  lamplight  his 
father  was  playing  with  Horatio  and  Sarah,  while 
Uncle  Moses  sat  in  a  great  easy  chair,  near  by, 
lost  in  thought. 

The  logs  crackled  merrily  upon  the  hearth- 
stone, and  to  Moses  the  sound  was  like  the  firing 
of  musketry,  and  he  heard  in  his  ears  the  blare 
of  trumpets  ;  he  dreamed  of  marching  troops  and 
great  battles,  where  he  won  honor  and  glory  and 
came  home  with  decorations  on  his  breast — and 
his  mother  kissed  his  hand. 

"Do  you  wish  so  much  to  leave  me?"  she 
asked,  softly. 

"  Mother,  some  of  us  are  born  for  one  thing, 
some  for  another,  and  when  the  longing  is  in  our 
hearts,  it  seems  best  for  us  not  to  beat  against  it. 
You  know  how  much  I  love  you,  don't  you  ?" 

"  You  have  been  the  best  boy  in  the  whole 
world,"  she  said,  gladly  yet  sorrowfully;  "but  I 
want  you  to  stay  with  me.  It  is  not  death  that 
I  fear  for  you ;  but  you  could  do  so  much  more 
with  your  life  in  other  ways." 


THE   CHOICE    OF    A    LIFE.  Ill 

"  What  way,  mother?" 

"  Since  the  time  of  the  first  legend  of  our  race, 
mankind  have  asked  themselves  the  same  ques- 
tion: 'Why  are  we  placed  here  on  earth?  why 
must  we  suffer?  to  what  end  is  it  all?'  To  every 
one  the  question  comes  sooner  or  later.  To  evade 
the  answer  is  to  herd  with  the  brutes ;  to  answer 
it  only  according  to  the  fierce  desires  of  the  body, 
or  the  longings  of  the  mind,  it  is  but  little  better; 
only  to  him  who  gives  to  it  his  heart  and  soul 
can  be  known  even  a  part  of  the  truth." 

"  But,  mother,  I  have  always  loved  the  soldier's 
life.  I  am  made  big  and  strong  that  I  may  stand 
its  hardships ;  and  you  see  I  have  conquered  the 
feeling  against  me,  so  that  they  have  made  me  a 
captain  in  the  militia.  Lord  Nelson  and  Uncle 
Josh  will  both  help  me  to  get  a  commission  in 
the  regular  army.  Why  can  I  not  work  out  my 
life  in  that  way  ?" 

"  I  do  not  say  you  cannot ;  but  I  ask  you,  my 
dear  boy,  to  take  the  reason  of  life  to  your  heart. 
How  can  your  own  best  be  lived — as  a  soldier  with 
arms  and  war,  or  as  one  who  battles  for  a  truth  ?" 

"But  what  am  I  to  do?  Is  it  to  be  grind- 
grind-grind,  all  the  years,  to  lay  by  money — or  a 
life  of  fire  and  action  and  freedom  ?" 


112  THINK    AND    THANK. 

Uncle  Moses,  who  had  been  quietly  listening 
to  the  discussion,  now  spoke. 

"Moses,"  he  said,  "  you  know  how  much  inter- 
est I  take  in  our  race.  The  books  that  I  have 
written  have  shown  you  some  of  it,  but  more  than 
all  those,  you  know  it  from  my  teachings  to  you. 
I  have  watched  over  you  from  the  day  of  your 
birth ;  you  know  the  concern  I  have  had  in  your 
studies  and  my  love  for  you.  I  have  seen  your 
progress  with  a  heart  of  joy — if  you  were  my  own 
son,  I  could  not  care  more  for  you." 

"I  can  never  thank  you  enough,"  Moses 
murmured. 

"I  have  hoped  to  see  in  you  one  who  might 
take  up  the  work  of  your  people,  and  help  to  free 
them  from  the  bonds  thrown  about  them  by 
tyranny  and  persecution." 

"  Oh !  if  you  could  only  see  the  way,"  Rachel 
said,  clasping  Moses'  hand  tightly  in  both  of  her 
own. 

"Our  nation,"  Uncle  Moses  continued,  "is  the 
greatest  of  the  world.  It  has  seen  the  Pharaohs 
pass  away  and  the  Empires  of  Assyria,  of  Babylon, 
of  Persia,  of  Macedonia,  and  of  Rome  fade  into 
nothing.  Greek  art,  philosophy,  legislation  and 
civilization  have  risen  and  fallen  in  a  short  period 


/'"' 


OF    r 


THE    CHOICE   OF    A   LIFE.  113 

of  its  life.  The  Ptolemy s  and  Csesars  were  mere 
passing  shadows  beside  it ;  nations  and  sects  that 
have  persecuted  us  are  long  gone  and  forgotten. 
To-day  we  pursue  our  traditions  unchanged,  with 
faith  and  hope  in  our  hearts,  in  the  belief  that 
the  light  will  come  at  last.  We  have  been  the 
teachers  of  the  world  for  thousands  of  years,  in 
spite  of  persecution ;  yet,  with  all  our  efforts,  we 
are  trodden  down,  now.  by  the  powerful,  all  over 
the  earth,  because  we  only  believe  a  part  of  their 
faith." 

"What  could  I  do?"  Moses  said,  thought- 
fully. 

"  I  will  buy  you  a  position  in  the  Board  of 
Brokers ;  the  number  of  our  race  which  can  be 
admitted  there  is  only  twelve,  but  I  can  arrange 
a  place  for  you.  If  you  will  work,  with  your 
abilities  and  opportunities,  you  can  make  a  for- 
tune and  then  devote  your  life  to  your  fellow-men. 
What  soldier's  life  can  be  as  great  as  that  of  the 
man  who  marches  forth  to  battle  for  the  good  of 
his  race  and  of  mankind;  to  fight  oppression  and 
persecution  and  suffering ;  and,  in  the  place  of 
triumphal  arches,  to  raise  schools  and  colleges  ?" 

"  I  fear  I  should  not  be  able  to  accomplish  all 
that!" 

8 


114  THINK    AND    THANK. 

"But  the  motive  of  your  life,"  his  mother 
said,  softly.  "Think  of  what  I  told  you.  Live 
up  to  the  best  in  your  heart." 

"  Our  people  have  made  the  world  nobler  and 
better  in  all  its  history,"  Uncle  Moses  went  on. 
"Our  faith  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  Christian 
religion ;  the  laws,  the  philosophy,  the  poetry  of 
our  books,  have  left  an  influence  on  all  mankind 
and  taught  them  the  unity  of  God,  purity  of 
human  life,  and  charity  to  everyone — and  yet  we 
are  despised.  They  have  put  upon  us  the  bonds 
of  slavery;  they  persecute  us  when  we  try  to 
break  them,  and,  after  taking  away  our  rights, 
condemn  us,  because  we  do  not  become  great. 
There  is  work  here  for  all  of  us.  The  task  is 
before  you,  Moses.  Use  your  life  to  help  your 
fellow-men,  to  rescue  your  race  and  make  the 
name  of  Jew  known  over  the  world  for  what  he 
is— the  most  intelligent,  industrious  and  faithful 
of  all  men." 

"  I  know,  but  I  think  I  am  meant  for  a  soldier, 
somehow." 

"  War,  as  you  mean  it,  at  the  best,  is  cruel," 
said  the  soft  voice  of  her  whom  Moses  loved  so 
well.  "  Many  things  must  be  done  at  command 
that  make  my  heart  sick  to  think  of.  Whether 


THE    CHOICE   OF    A   LIFE.  115 

he  believes  in  his  country's  cause  or  not,  the 
soldier  must  fight  the  same.  Battles  may  he 
unavoidable,  they  may  be  glorious;  those  who 
fight  them  may  be  good  and  faithful  and  pure  !— 
but  oh !  the  sorrow,  the  sufferings  they  bring.  If 
you  can  only  see  your  life  so,  it  must  be  that  you 
leave  us ;  but  will  you,  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
love  you,  who  honor  you,  think  wrell  before  you 
choose  ?" 

"You  know  I  will,  mother." 

<%  You  have  for  your  motto  a  very  old  and 
homely  saying  in  our  family  :  '  Think  and  Thank.' 
Be  thoughtful  and  kind  ;  be  courteous,  and,  for 
your  star,  keep  the  walls  of  the  Holy  City  before 
your  eyes." 

"But  there  have  been  kind  and  thoughtful 
soldiers,  whose  battles  were  fought  for  the  welfare 
of  all  the  generations  after  them." 

"That  is  true ;  all  I  ask  of  you  is  thought ;  to 
choose  the  best  way  to  live  your  life.  It  will 
always  be  a  comfort  to  you  to  be  doing  the  best 
you  can,  in  the  best  way  you  can.  There  is  one 
safeguard  for  us  all.  Remember,  that  no  one  can 
ever  detach  himself  from  his  relation  to  others. 
His  influence  will  be  felt,  not  alone  in  the  present, 
but  upon  the  future  destiny  of  the  world.  The 


116  THINK    AND   THANK. 

responsibility  of  our  lives  is  in  their  help  or  hin- 
drance to  those  about  us — those  who  come  after  us." 

His  mother  put  her  arms  about  his  neck  and 
kissed  him,  and  he  clasped  her  close  to  his  heart. 

Were  his  dreams  to  pass  away  for  ever  ?  Must 
he  give  up  the  glory  of  arms  ?  Should  the  troops 
march  by,  on  their  way  to  strange  lands,  to  see 
strange  peoples  and  fight  the  battles  of  his 
king,  and  he  not  be  there?  Must  he  crush  out 
the  wild  longing  that  beat  at  his  heart,  to  go  into 
the  world  and,  by  the  strength  that  was  in  him, 
conquer  and  subdue  the  enemies  of  his  country  ? 

Sitting  so,  in  the  dim  light,  no  one  ever  knew 
the  struggle  that  passed  over  him,  between  the 
love  for  the  glorious  life  he  had  planned  and 
that  set  out  for  him  by  the  stern  fates. 

In  the  silence  that  followed  his  mother's  words, 
he  listened  to  a  drum,  afar  off  in  the  streets  of  the 
town.  It  grew  fainter  and  fainter,  and,  at  last,  as 
he  strained  his  ears  to  catch  the  dying  sounds,  he 
found  that  what  he  heard  was  only  the  ticking 
of  the  clock  on  the  wall.  His  mother's  fair  face 
looked  up  at  him,  and  he  felt  her  kisses,  soft 
and  warm,  and  gazed  into  her  eyes,  deep  and 
true,  and  filled  with  a  great  love  for  him. 

The  fire  died  away,  and  only  embers  glowed 


THE    END    OF   A    DAY.  117 

on  the  hearth;  the  rattle  of  musketry  in  his  ears 
ceased,  and  no  army  went  by,  with  banners  and 
music — the  dream  of  fame  passed  away  with  the 
smoke  of  the  logs  that  he  watched  with  thoughtful 
eyes. 

And  then  Moses  made  his  choice. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  END  OF  A  DAY. 

An  old  man  sat  in  an  easy  chair,  on  the  lawn 
of  his  country-place,  and  his  eyes  looked  out  to 
the  setting  sun. 

Spring  and  Summer  had  flown  away,  and 
Winter  was  at  hand ;  when  the  morrow  dawned  a 
hundred  years  would  have  passed  over  his 
whitened  head.  He  did  not  notice  the  autumn 
flowers,  the  changing  colors  of  the  trees  or  the 
waving  grass  in  the  meadow.  Down  in  the 
woods  the  squirrels  and  rabbits  played  as  merrily 
as  in  days  when  he  had  wandered  here,  his  heart 
full  of  youth's  ambitions,  and  wild  longings  to  be 
a  soldier  and  fight  the  battles  of  his  king. 

He  fell  to  musing.  While  the  warm  October 
air  whispered  to  him,  he  found  himself  lingering 


118  THINK    AND    THANK. 

with  faltering  footsteps  over  the  pathway  of  his 
life. 

Though  so  many  days  had  gone  by,  what  was 
his  reward? 

He  was  no  statesman,  holding  in  his  hand  the 
welfare  of  nations,  nor  a  poet,  bearing  a  wreath 
of  laurels;  he  wore  no  gaudy  uniform,  nor  were 
there  any  ranks  of  armed  men  ready  to  obey  his 
word  of  command ;  he  could  not  recall  the  rattle 
of  musketry  or  the  roar  of  cannon  amid  conquests 
on  bloody  fields  of  battle — the  dreams  of  his 
youth,  as  he  had  dreamed  them,  had  not  come 
true. 

Yet  he  lived  over  again  perilous  adventures 
by  land  and  sea;  in  strange  countries  and  amid 
strange  people  he  stood,  once  more,  before  gov- 
ernors, cardinals,  ambassadors,  kings  or  emperors, 
to  wring  from  them  the  rights  of  his  race;  he 
suffered,  amid  scenes  of  sorrow  that  almost 
broke  his  heart,  and  marched,  without  arms  or 
army,  in  the  enemy's  country,  amid  storms  and 
dangers,  to  the  rescue  of  his  down-trodden 
brethren.  Even  in  his  heart,  grown  placid  with 
the  weight  of  so* many  years,  these  memories  of 
his  life  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  old  that  had  called 
him  to  the  field  of  war. 


THE   END   OF    A   DAY.  119 

He  had  worked  for  his  race  with  a  pride  in  the 
glory  of  their  achievements  that  had  made  princes 
bend  to  him;  he  had  thought,  loved  and  acted 
according  to  the  faith  of  his  forefathers,  the  truth 
and  the  law;  he  had  done  good  in  all  the  ways 
that  life  offered  to  him,  and  thousands  whom  he 
had  freed  from  persecution,  lifted  up  their  voices 
in  prayer  to  him,  while  colleges  and  hospitals 
that  he  had  erected  were  monuments  to  many 
busy  years  of  toil. 

He  felt  the  touch  of  the  sword  which  had 
knighted  him  for  work  done  in  the  cause  of 
humanity ;  and  upon  his  forehead  rested  the 
crown  of  good  deeds. 

And  then  he  knew  it  was  no  dream,  for  in  his 
hands  were  messages  from  many  lands  and  peo- 
ples of  the  world,  that  told  him  of  the  reverence 
he  had  won — not  from  his  own  race  alone,  but 
from  those  who,  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  had 
counted  all  men  of  his  nation  as  enemies. 

The  times  were  changed  since  then. 

Those  who  had  been  forbidden  to  follow  any 
but  the  limited  pathways  of  trade,  now  were  set 
at  liberty  to  achieve  success  on  such  broad 
avenues  as  they  might  please;  then,  they  were 
slaves,  to  be  beaten  to  earth  and  condemned 


120  THINK   AND    THANK. 

because  they  did  not  climb  the  heights  of  fame; 
now  they  were  free  among  men  to  work  out  their 
destinies,  according  to  the  truth  that  was  in  their 
hearts. 

Moses  Montefiore  was  glad  and  murmured  a 
prayer  and  thanksgiving  that  God  had  been 
gracious  to  him  and  granted  him  power  to  do 
good  to  those  who  suffered  and  were  oppressed ; 
and  he  saw  how  small  must  have  been  his  con- 
quests under  the  banner  of  arms,  compared  to  the 
victories  for  his  race  that  had  been  given  into 
his  hands,  as  a  soldier  in  a  greater  cause. 

The  sun  set  in  a  mass  of  cloud,  gleaming  with 
a  thousand  rays  of  crimson  and  purple  and  gold, 
and  a  bright  light  shone  over  the  world ;  there 
fell  a  great  peace  upon  the  old  man's  heart,  as  he 
watched  the  radiance  of  the  day  pass  away;  and 
he  saw  that  night  was  at  hand,  and  he  was 
weary  and  dreamed  he  heard  his  mother's  voice 
calling  him,  and  he  longed  only  to  lie  down  and 
rest. 


UNIVERSITY    ) 

OF 


The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of 
America 

HAS  JUST  ISSUED 


From  the  return  from  Babylon  to  189O 

(with  three  maps,  a  frontispiece 

and  chronological  tables). 

By  LADY  MAGNUS. 


REVISED  BY  M.  FRIEDLANDER,  Ph.D. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS 

"Of  universal  historical   interest." — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

"Compresses  much  in  simple  language." — Baltimore  Sun. 

"  Though  full  of  sympathy  for  her  own  people,  it  is  not 
without  a  singular  value  for  readers  whose  religious  belief 
differs  from  that  of  the  author."— New  York  Times. 

"  One  of  the  clearest  and  most  compact  works  of  its  class 
produced  in  modern  times." — New  York  Sun. 

"  The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America  has  not  only 
conferred  a  favor  upon  all  young  Hebrews  but  also  upon 
all  Gentiles  who  desire  to  see  the  Jew  as  he  appears  to 
himself."— Boston  Herald. 

"We  know  of  no  single- volume  history  which  gives  a 
better  idea  of  the  remarkable  part  played  by  the  Jews  in 
ancient  and  modern  history." — San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

"  A  succinct,  well-written  history  of  a  wonderful  race." — 
Buffalo  Courier. 


"  The  best  hand-book  of  Jewish  History  that  readers  of 
any  class  can  find." — New  York  Herald. 

"  A  convenient  and  attractive  hand-book  of  Jewish  His- 
tory."— Cleveland  Plaindealer. 

"  The  work  is  an  admirable  one  and  as  a  manual  of  Jewish 
History  it  may  be  commended  to  persons  of  every  race  and 
creed"— Philadelphia  Times. 

"  Altogether  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  another  book  on 
this  subject  containing  so  much  information." — Philadelphia 
American. 

"  Lady  Magnus'  book  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  store- 
house of  literature  that  we  already  have  about  the  Jews." — 
Charleston  (S.  C.)  News. 

"  We  should  like  to  see  this  volume  in  the  library  of  every 
school  in  the  state." — Albany  Argus. 

"  A  succinct,  helpful  portrayal  of  Jewish  history." — Boston 
Post. 

"We  doubt  whether  there  is  in  the  English  language  a  better 
sketch  of  Jewish  History.  The  Jewish  Publication  Society 
is  to  be  congratulated  on  the  successful  opening  of  its  career. 
Such  a  movement,  so  auspiciously  begun,  deserves  the  hearty 
support  of  the  public." — Nation. 


Bound  in  Cloth.  Price,  postpaid,  $1.25. 

FOR  SAL.K  BY  THE  TRADE  AND  AT 
THE  SOCIETY'S  OFFICE, 

714  MARKET  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


SPECIAL  TERMS  TO  SCHOOLS. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


DEC   5  1947 


RECD 


LD  21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 


c 


11*1 


